Kamen Rider Hansei
by KamenEagle
Summary: Yamato Takahashi, a bitter young man angry at the hand life dealt him suddenly finds himself captured and experimented on by Foundation X. Managing to free himself, Yamato finds a Build Driver, using it to transform into Kamen Rider Hansei. Yamato then finds himself cast out into the multiverse by his captors and must fight to make his way home, helping people out on his way there.
1. Chapter 1

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 01: A Broken Man**

* * *

 _Tokyo, 1978_

"Yamato! Kohei's waiting!" called a voice from downstairs.

"Coming!" replied a seven-year-old with a crop of messy dark hair as he looked up from his drawing, letting his pencil drop to the table.

Picking up the piece of paper, Yamato held it next to his window, comparing his drawing to the tree outside. Grinning, Yamato turned and raced down the stairs, picture in hand.

"Did you get distracted drawing again, Shiro?" questioned a woman, smiling.

"Here, this is for you, Mom," beamed Yamato, holding out the picture.

Taking the paper, Yamato's mother's face lit up with pride.

"Is it good?" asked Yamato, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Of course," nodded Yamato's mother, walking over to a cork board on the wall and pinning the drawing up, "It may even be your best yet."

"All right!" cheered Yamato.

"Now, Kohei's waiting for you outside," spoke Yamato's mother, "Dinner will be ready by five and, remember, don't-"

"-try and cross the main road," finished Yamato with a slightly bored tone to his voice.

"Don't be cheeky," admonished Yamato's mother, pinching his cheek with a smile.

Yamato nodded, pulling on his shoes before tearing open the front door and racing down the path, passing a dark-haired man as he did.

"See you later, Dad!" called Yamato.

The man sighed as he shut the front door behind him, pausing to slip his shoes off, passing Yamato's mother, stopping as the cork board drew his attention.

"Still encouraging him with that ridiculous pursuit, Kyoko," stated the man as he looked at the drawing.

"Osamu, it's perfectly fine for him to have a hobby," replied Kyoko.

"His hobby should be studying," muttered Osamu, "He needs to if he's going to get a good job."

"He's seven, let him be a child," spoke Kyoko, with certainty in her voice.

"Pathetic," murmured Osamu.

* * *

"Slow down, Shiro!" called a boy as ran as fast as he could.

"Only if you can catch me, Kohei!" replied Yamato as he continued to sprint.

"Not fair," puffed Kohei as he struggled to catch up.

Skidding to a halt, Yamato looked up and down the busy main road they'd reached.

"Let's go!" grinned Yamato, moving to cross the road, only for Kohei to grab his arm.

"Stop, your mother always says we have to turn around when we reach the main road," spoke Kohei.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," retorted Yamato.

"No, I'm sick of this, you're always running off, breaking every rule you can find!" exclaimed Kohei, "And you never wait for me!"

"I'm tired of your constant whining," snapped Yamato, "Why don't you go and run back to your mother, that's if you can even run that far."

Kohei clenched his fists, "I hate you!"

Lurching forward, Kohei fist connected with Yamato's chin, sending him falling backwards, onto the main road.

Pushing himself to his feet, Yamato looker to his left in time to see the terrified face of a bus driver before his whole world went black in a burst of white-hot agony.

* * *

 _Sixteen years later..._

Yamato stared up at the ceiling above him as he heard the door to his room open, before closing again.

"Good morning, Yamato," greeted one of the two nurses as she entered Yamato's bedroom.

"Morning," spoke Yamato with a hollow voice.

"How about a shower then some breakfast?" offered the second nurse as she opening the curtains.

"Sounds good," replied Yamato with the same monotone voice, his face blank.

Closing his eyes, Yamato let himself slip away, trying distance his mind from the feeling of his broken body being lifted and washed by others, unable to do it himself.

Gritting his teeth, Yamato felts his clothes being pulled on, followed by the sensation of cold plastic touching his right arm.

"We'll be back soon with your breakfast soon, Yamato," spoke the first nurse, the sound of a door opening and then closing echoing around his room.

Opening his eyes, Yamato looked down, first at the wheelchair he was sat it, before moving on to his broken limbs. Staring at the empty space where his left leg should have been, Yamato sighed.

Sixteen years, sixteen long years since the accident, he'd lost his left leg above the knee, his right arm below the elbow. He'd also damaged the muscles in his left arm so badly he could barely move it, the effort of doing so tiring him out very quickly.

Reaching out with the prosthetic attached to the remains of his right arm, Yamato carefully picked up a portable cassette player and a set of headphones.

Before Yamato could switch the Walkman on a knock sounded from the door. Sighing, Yamato lowered his prosthetic arm, letting it rest on his lap.

"There's someone here to see you," spoke a nurse as she opened the door.

Yamato sighed again and rolled his eyes, turning his face awake as a young man in his twenties entered the room.

"Morning, Yamato," greeted the man, smiling.

"I've told you everyday since I got shoved in here that I didn't want to see you," retorted Yamato, "So go away, Kohei."

His smile faltering for a second, Kohei stepped forward, "I made some new tapes for you, what did you think of the last batch?"

"They were good," admitted Yamato, "Why do you do this? Visit me everyday, day in, day out? Even when I don't want to see you."

"Because you're my friend," replied Kohei cheerfully, "And that's what friends do."

"You're not my friend," spat Yamato, "You're the reason I'm stuck in this chair, not even able to dress myself, wash myself, feed myself! You did this to me!"

"And I'm here trying to atone for that!" snapped Kohei, his smile vanishing in an instant.

"Get out!" yelled Yamato.

Kohei sighed, "Shiro, I didn't mean that."

"If the only reason you're here is because you pity me, then go!" hissed Yamato, "And never come back!"

Kohei looked down sadly, before shaking his head and returning the smile to his face, "See you tomorrow, Shiro."

Turning, Kohei quickly made his exit, his smile fading once Yamato could no longer see his face.

Letting out a sigh he didn't know he was holding, Yamato pulled on his headphones with him prosthetic hand.

Clicking the play button on his Walkman, closing his eyes as the music began to play, letting it carry him away.

Yamato wasn't sure exactly he fell asleep, but as a loud bang shook him from his slumber. Blinking rapidly, allowing his eyes to adjust, Yamato slipped his headphones off.

"Still as pathetic as ever," sneered a bespectacled man in his early forties, his hair greying at his temples.

"Morning, Father," replied Yamato.

"It's two in the afternoon, Yamato," spoke Osamu, his voice cold.

"How's mother? And Touka?" questioned Yamato.

"Your sister is doing well, as for your mother, she hasn't improved still the last time you asked," retorted Osamu, "Probably the shame of having a disgrace of a son like you."

"If you've just come here to insult me, don't come," snapped Yamato.

"I wouldn't talk to me like that," taunted Osamu, "I'm the one who pays for you to live his this place, sleeping the day away."

"You shoved me in here when you couldn't hide away at home anymore," hissed Yamato, "You were so ashamed of having a child who was disabled and so afraid that it would hurt your career that you imprisoned me here."

"And you'll never escape," spoke Osamu, "That is your fate."

"I will get out, I will protect Touka from you," stated Yamato, his face contorting as he managed to raise his damaged left arm, then his prosthetic arm, "I will change my fate with these hands."

Osamu sighed, "I'd hoped I wouldn't have to play my hand so soon, but you've become too much of a risk, your spirit didn't break how I'd hoped it to."

Stepping forward, Osamu knocked twice on the door, moving back again as two orderlies entered Yamato's room.

"It looks like you will be getting your wish to get out of here, just not how you were expecting," informed Osamu in a smug tone, pulling off his glasses and beginning to polish them.

"You bastard," spat Yamato as the orderlies lifted him out his chair, his Walkman falling to the floor, the plastic cover on the front cracking.

"Take comfort that your sacrifice will help science," replied Osamu, "After all, progress demands sacrifice."

Lashing out with his good leg, Yamato struggled to get free, his prosthetic right arm coming loose, joining his Walkman on the floor.

"Sayonara, Yamato," murmured Osamu, watching as his son was dragged away.

* * *

Yamoto squinted in harsh light as he slowly came round.

"Good to see you're awake," spoke an elderly man dressed in surgical scrubs, "I was worried the procedure may have cause some loss of cognitive function."

"What have you done to me," grunted Yamato, flexing his arms and legs as he tried to escape the bonds holding him flat.

The man chuckled, pressing a button on the side of the operating table, causing it to start to rise, "How about you see for yourself."

Yamato froze in horror as the table locked into a vertical position, allowing him to see his reflection in the mirror in front of him.

"I'm a monster," gasped Yamato, staring at his reflection.

Instead of the empty space below his elbow where his right arm had been years ago was a matt black metal arm. Looking down, Yamato noticed his missing left leg had also been replaced as well with a matching prosthetic leg.

"No, you're a super-soldier," smiled the man, "Foundation X's super-soldier."

* * *

"Afternoon, Yamato," called a teenager as she entered Yamato's hospital room.

Stopping, Touka looked around, all of Yamato's belongings were gone, his wheelchair was knocked over on the floor. Reaching down, Touka picked up Yamato's Walkman and headphones, his prosthetic arm on the floor next to it.

"That bastard," muttered Touka, tears running down her face, "I'll find you Yamato, I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 02: Wake Up, Yamato!**

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

"Foundation X?" questioned Yamato, looking away from the mirror.

"An organisation, dedicated to the advancement of science," replied the man, "No matter the cost."

"What have you done to me?" demanded Yamato, his anger starting to build.

"Most obviously we replaced the arm and leg you lost in your accident," explained the man, "Some enhancements to other parts of your body to repair the damage, your left arm was rather tricky, but you should have full use of it again."

Looking back at his reflection, Yamato felt horror rising within him. Set into his chest was shiny metal rectangle with a symbol stencilled on the front, a gear with two lines running opposite to each other, forming an X.

"That on your chest is the mainframe for your cybernetic implants, it will also host the support AI you will receive during the mental adjustment procedure," answered the man.

"Mental adjustment?" repeated Yamato, "You're gonna brainwash me?"

"No exactly, the procedure will make you more compliant, allow you to act with hesitation," assured the man, watching as Yamato struggled against his bonds, "Don't bother trying, even at the maximum output of your cybernetics, those bindings are far stronger."

Yelling, Yamato renewed his efforts, launching forwards as his bonds ripped like paper. Landing on the ground, despite the horror and anger he felt at being torn apart and put back together again, he couldn't help but relish at the feeling of being whole again.

"G-Get back!" stuttered the man, shuffling backwards.

"You did this to me," snarled Yamato as he walked towards the man, his hand shaking as he drew a shock baton from his belt.

Surging forward, Yamato knocked aside the man's arm, the shock baton falling from his grasp as his arm shattered, the man flying backwards.

Yamato shuffled back, looking down at his hands in horror as the man yelled in agony from where he'd landed.

"I'm a monster," muttered Yamato, not even looking as the door to the operating room open and guards dressed in black combats flooded in, surrounding him and striking him with their shock batons.

Falling to the ground, Yamato watched as medical staff rushed in, immediately beginning to tend to the man, as his world went completely black.

* * *

" _Wake up, Yamato!"_

Slowly forcing his eyes open, Yamato looked around himself, he was still in the same room. Looking up, he saw he was strapped to the operating table once more, this time with metal clamps. Sighing, Yamato glanced over to where the man had landed after he'd hit him, the image of his shattered arm haunting him.

"Good morning, Yamato," spoke a female voice in his ear.

"Who's there?" called Yamato, looking around the room.

"My name is Assistive Rider Interface, ARI for sure," explained the voice, "I am the AI assigned to aid you in your duties as one of Foundation X's X-Riders."

"X-Riders?" questioned Yamato, looking down at the metal section in his chest.

"A program set up to create an army of Kamen Riders, utilising the powers of the past, present and future," informed ARI, "You were assigned to Project Hansei, in order to be the perfect opponent for Kamen Rider Build, to be able to copy anything he does."

"Those bastards!" snarled Yamato, feeling his rage beginning to build, but managed to push it down as the image of the man he'd injured came to the forefront of his mind.

"Since you are now conscious would you like me to complete my initialisation and connect to the Foundation X's mainframe?" queried ARI.

"Would that alert them?" replied Yamato.

"Yes, your mental adjustment procedure was scheduled to be in two hours, it is most unusual for you to wake up prior to the operation," answered ARI.

"Who do you take orders from?" asked Yamato, a worried look on his face, he didn't really fancy having an evil AI in his head, or chest, or wherever ARI was.

"If I was connected to the Foundation X mainframe, my administrator would be your handler," responded ARI, "However since you instructed me not to link to the mainframe, the position of administrator falls to you."

"Good, from now on you don't take any orders from anyone who works for Foundation X," instructed Yamato.

"Permissions updated," spoke ARI, "You are now the permanent administrator for my system."

"Nice, now let's focus on getting out of here," stated Yamato, pulling on his metal clamps, only for them to click open, allowing him to drop to the floor.

Yamato groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, "What happened?"

"I may not be connected to the mainframe but I can still interface with nearby objects," explained ARI.

"That's gonna come in handy," murmured Yamato, approaching a table on the far wall, grabbing a pair of black pants and pulling them on over the boxers he was wearing, then slipping his feet into a pair of combat boots from under the table.

Picking up a jacket with the Foundation X logo stenciled on the breast pocket, Yamato glared at it before tossing it away. Grabbing a white t-shirt he pulled it on, uncovering a black briefcase as he did.

"What's this?" questioned Yamato, opening the case to reveal a strange belt with a red handle sticking out the left side, a translucent barrel and two slots, next to it was a small purple bottle.

"The Alpha Driver, a prototype of the Build Driver created by Sento Kiryu in the year 2016," informed ARI.

"2016, that's over twenty years from now," spoke Yamato, scrunching his face up in confusion.

"Foundation X has access to time-travel technology," continued ARI, "That Driver was stolen from its creator, it allows the user to transform into a Kamen Rider by blending both organic and inorganic powers, stored as FullBottles."

"So this is what Foundation X wanted me to use as their puppet," spoke Yamato, a flash of anger appearing before he pushed it down.

"Yamato, it appears that freeing you has alerted the guards," stated ARI.

"Is there still time for me to slip away?" queried Yamato.

"There is not," replied ARI, "If you wish to escape, you will have to fight your way out."

"I can't, I could have killed that doctor," muttered Yamato, looking down at his hands, "I'd definitely kill the guards."

"Would you like to activate non-lethal mode?"

"Non-lethal?" repeated Yamato.

"I can limit the output of your cybernetic and constantly change to adapt to your enemy," elaborated ARI.

Yamato nodded, picking up the Alpha Driver and FullBottle, "Do it."

"Non-lethal mode activated."

Lowering the Driver to his waist, Yamato watched as it fastened itself to him.

"What do I do with this," pondered Yamato, staring at the FullBottle in his hand.

"You shake it and then flick the switch on the top before inserting into the Alpha Driver," explained ARI, Yamato nodding as he began the sequence to activate the FullBottle.

[CRYSTAL!]

"Now turn the handle," continued ARI.

Nodding, Yamato began to turn the handle, watching in shock as a black and gold metal rectangle formed around him, with him at the center. Suddenly, two semi-clear tubes came out of the front of the Alpha Driver, creating a frame similar to Gunpla runners, both in front of him and behind him.

"Whoa," gasped Yamato as a purple substance flowed through the pipes, forming a set of strange purple armour, the half in front of him covering the top right of his chest, his right arm, his left leg and the left-hand side of his face. Glancing behind him, Yamato saw the remaining sections of the purple armour had appeared there.

"What do I do now?" asked Yamato, looking between the stationary halves of his armour.

"The system has motion detection, cross your arms over your chest and then lower them to your waist," explained ARI.

"Got it!" confirmed Yamato, doing as he was told, the armour immediately reacting by encasing his body.

[ARE YOU READY!?] [ BROKEN CRYSTAL!]

Turning to look at his reflection in the mirror, Yamato grinned under his helmet, "This is awesome!"

"You said I was part of Project Hansei," continued Yamato, "I guess that means I am Kamen Rider Hansei!"

Marveling, Hansei examined his Rider form, a black undersuit with lines running across it at a 45 degree angle, purple armour with matching lines on his torso and shoulders, and a helmet with light grey plastic lenses covering where his eyes were, however one had a crack in it while the other had a piece chipped off.

"Something's wrong," mused Hansei, staring at the reflection of his chest armour, it looked like it hadn't fitted together completely, one pauldron was higher than the other.

"It seems that you haven't fully synced with the Alpha Driver for some reason," responded ARI, "It could be that you don't trust me."

Before he could reply he door to the lab suddenly burst open, guards charged into the room, forming a semicircle around Hansei.

"Cancel the unauthorised transformation and surrender immediately or you will be met with extreme force," ordered the leader, his gun aimed at Hansei.

Turning to face the guards, Hansei spoke, "Try me."

A hail of bullets spewed from the guns of the guards, their fire focused directly on Hansei.

"Confirm visual, is Test Subject 7 down?" called the leader, struggling to see through the smoke.

"No, he isn't," stated Hansei as he appeared in front of the leader, unharmed except for a few scratches.

Launching forwards, Hansei struck the leader in the gut, giving a small sigh of relief as his cybernetics limited his strength, causing the leader to crumple to the floor instead of sending his kidneys to the other side of the room.

Seeing their leader fall, the other guards charged in, swarming Hansei. Dropping into a fighting stance, Hansei quickly knocked a fist aside, spinning on the balls of his feet, striking the attacking guard with his knuckles in the neck, dropping him immediately.

"How did I do that?" murmured Hansei as he ducked another fist, dispatching the guard with a punch to the knee.

"A combat program was uploaded to your cybernetics as a part of my software package," answered ARI, "It supplies you with the most effective technique to defeat your current opponent."

"Huh, neat," muttered Hansei, rolling to one side, sweeping a guard's feet out from under him in the same motion.

Straightening up, Hansei charged forward, lashing out with a left hook, stunning a guard, following it up with a kick to the chest. Feeling a strike on his back, Hansei slowly turned around, coming face-to-face with one of the guards.

"Do you really want to do this?" asked Hansei as the guard quaked in his boots.

Within a second, the guard made a hasty retreat, leaving just three guards left standing.

"Let's do this," smiled Hansei, assuming a fighting stance.

Striding forward, Hansei knocked the first guard aside as he rushed, kicking him in the side as he did. Dodging a swing of a shock baton from the second guard, Hansei lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending the second guard to the floor, unconscious.

"You'll find I won't be defeated so easily," sneered the third guard, drawing a strange belt with two large slots on the front, from his jacket. The guard lowered it to his waist, a silver belt materialising, holding it in place.

"What is that?" queried Hansei, backing away slightly.

"A mass-produced Sengoku Driver, created by Yggdrasil in 2013 in order to create their own personal army," explained ARI, "The former Head of R&D at Yggdrasil destroyed all the remaining Drivers after the resolution of the Helheim invasion."

"Let me guess," muttered Hansei, "Foundation X hopped to the future again and stole a few before they were destroyed?"

"Correct," agreed ARI, "However I fear they may have made some, improvements."

"Great," intoned Hansei, his voice laden with sarcasm.

[BLOOD MANGO!] [CHERRY ENERGY!]

"Henshin!"

Looking up, Hansei examined the objects in each the guard's hand, strange padlocks, one with a cover styled as a dark red mango and the other as a pair of cherries. Flashing a smug smile at Hansei, the guard slotted the padlocks into the ports on the driver.

[LOCK ON!]

Walking towards Hansei confidently as a guitar riff blared from the guard's Sengoku Driver, before he flicked the knife of the device, both of the padlocks opening.

[BLOOD MANGO ARMS! - SHADOW OF HAMMER!] [JIMBER CHERRY!] [HA-HA!]

Suddenly, two zippers appeared above the guard, each unzipping to reveal portals to some kind of forest. Out of one of the portals came a large metallic mango while a metal object in the shape of two cherries came out the other.

"This is so not good," sighed Hansei.

Above the guard the two metal fruit pieces merged into one, forming a strange looking black rectangle that lowered itself onto the guards shoulders. A wave of purple energy washed down the guards body, leaving a black bodysuit with pieces of silver armour on his shoulders, forearms and shins.

Strolling towards Hansei, the guard raised his hand as the black rectangle unfolded, forming an samurai armour over his base suit. His helmet had a silver crest on his forehead, a red gem set below it, and a red crescent-shaped visor, with silver horns at either side.

"You can call me, Kamen Rider Chishio," sneered the guard, as a red and blue bow appeared in his outstretched hand.

"Lovely," replied Hansei.

Sighing, Chishio lunged forward, striking Hansei across the chest twice, leaving deep gashes and sending him stumbling back.

"Now that hurt," grunted Hansei as he steadied himself.

"Not as much as this will," stated Chishio, pulling back the handle of his Sonic Arrow, letting energy build at the tip before releasing it.

Reacting as fast as he could, Hansei dived to one side, the energy bow scraping his shoulder, leaving a dent in his pauldron.

"This guy is too strong," sighed Hansei as he hid behind the vertical operating table.

"Come out and play!" called Chishio, reading his Sonic Arrow again.

"I can't beat this guy," groaned Hansei, holding his damaged shoulder, "He's too strong."

"I determined the cause of your desync issue," spoke ARI, her electronic voice coloured with worry, "I was as I theorised, the root of the issue is that you don't trust me."

"You have to come out eventually," continued Chishio, "And I'm happy to wait."

"Of course I don't, I only met you half an hour ago!" retorted Hansei.

"Yamato, if you want to get out of this, you're going to have to trust me," urged ARI, "I have my reasons to betray Foundation X."

"You're right, if you were working for or being controlled by Foundation X you would never have released me," spoke Hansei, "You could have alerted the guards and allowed me to be brainwashed, but you didn't."

[ARE YOU READY?!]

Looking down in surprise, Hansei watched as the Alpha Driver strapped to his waist glowed for a few seconds before the light faded away.

"ARI, let's beat this guy!" declared Hansei.

"Roger!" affirmed ARI as Hansei stepped out of cover with his back to Chishio, his hand grabbing hold of the handle on his Alpha Driver and beginning to turn it.

"Now I win," sneered Chishio, releasing the handle of his Sonic Arrow, an energy bolt rocketing towards Hansei.

[CRYSTAL!] [ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

A wave of purple energy rocketed out from the Alpha Driver, destroying Chishio's arrow and sending him flying backwards. Turning around, Hansei's chest piece slotted together perfectly, steam billowing from the seam, all the damage done to his suit repaired.

"I will change my fate with these hands!" stated Hansei, raising his hands, one organic, one inorganic.

Surging forward, Hansei quickly launched a kick at Chishio, who'd just got back to his feet, pushing him against the wall. Lashing out with his fist, Hansei punched the other rider in the stomach, an area unprotected by his Jimber Cherry armour.

Raising his Sonic Arrow, Chishio slashed at Hansei, who quickly grabbed the blade of the weapon and pulled it out of Chishio's hands. Spinning around, Hansei pulled the handle of the weapon back and allowed the energy to build for a few seconds before releasing it.

"NOO!" roared Chishio as the energy bolt hit him, encasing him in a pair of hologram cherries, which turned into a hail of arrows which bombarded Chishio.

"Checkmate," spoke Hansei as Chishio collapsed to the ground unconscious, his suit and armour fading out of existence. Holding up the Sonic Arrow, the Alpha Driver produced a stream of light, scanning the weapon.

"The Sonic Arrow has been analysed and integrated into your Rider arsenal," informed ARI as two of the clear pipes came out of the Alpha Driver, bending and cornering until it reached the Sonic Arrow, absorbing the weapon into the pipes.

Strolling over to where Chishio's smoking Sengoku Driver had fallen, Hansei picked it up, it and the Blood Mango Lockseed were wrecked, however the Cherry Energy Lockseed was undamaged, "I'll be keeping this."

Pulling the Crystal FullBottle out of his Driver, Yamato stowed it and the Cherry Energy Lockseed in the pockets of his combat pants, dropping the Sengoku Driver back on the ground.

Yamato grinned, "Now, let's get out of here,"

* * *

"Take the next left," instructed ARI.

Jogging down a corridor, Yamato effortlessly changed direction, his cybernetic implants making it easy. Entering a large room, Yamato slowed to a stop as he looked around him, his eyes falling on a strange frame with silver energy inside of it, on the opposite wall.

"What it this?" muttered Yamato as he walked towards it.

"It appears to be some kind of prototype dimensional wormhole creator," informed ARI.

"Woah," grinned Yamato, "That's so cool."

"I'm glad you think so," spoke a voice from behind Yamato, "It was designed for you after all, if you had accepted your fate like you should have."

Turning to face the source of the voice, Yamato was shocked to see a suit identical to his Crystal Form, however the purple armour was coloured black and the eyes were silver. The most surprising difference was that this Rider did not have an Alpha Driver on his waist, instead it looked like he had a similar device built into the axe in his left hand.

"Who are you?" questioned Yamato defensibly, drawing his Crystal FullBottle.

"You can call me Onyx," explained the rider, "I am Foundation X's most senior and trusted enforcer, and you have become more trouble than you're worth."

Slamming his Alpha Driver onto his waist, Yamato quickly shook his Crystal FullBottle and slotted it into his Driver as Onyx raised his axe.

[CRYSTAL!] [BOLTECH SLASH!]

Spinning the handle of his Alpha Driver, Yamato braced himself as the wave of silver energy rocketed towards him.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTAL! / ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

Just as the purple armour encased Yamato he was hit with Onyx's attack, sending him flying back into the silver portal, vanishing as he did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 03: Foreign Lands**

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

Slowly raising his hands to shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight, Yamato pushed himself up into a seated position, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

"Where are we?" murmured Yamato, pulling himself to his feet, looking slightly unsteady.

"It is not good news, that portal Onyx sent us through," began ARI, before pausing, "That portal sent us to another world, another reality."

"Another reality?" questioned Yamato, before sighing, "Today is really not my day."

"I do have something promising," spoke ARI, her synthetic voice sounding more optimistic, "It appears Foundation X intended for you to be some kind of interdimensional enforcer, using a series a portals connecting one world to another."

"So the one we came through, was the master portal?" queried Yamato.

"It seems that way," agreed ARI.

"So where's the portal we came through?" continued Yamato, scratching his head.

"From the specifications in my system, the master portal we came through can open a one-way portal to any world," informed ARI.

"So no way of getting back home then?" sighed Yamato, "I need to get back, before my father can hurt Touka."

"There is a way, but unfortunately it is a scenic route," answered ARI, "It appears that Foundation X has set up network of portals, two in each world, both leading to different world."

"So one world has a portal home?" mused Yamato, "Let me guess, we're gonna have to travel through, five, maybe six, other worlds to get home?"

"Seven," replied ARI.

"I've listened to enough audio dramas to know how these sort of things go," sighed Yamato, thoughts straying to how nasty he'd been to Kohei.

"So what kind of world are we in?" questioned Yamato, suddenly feeling very cold.

"From Foundation X's files I have, this world is known as _Kaijin no Sekai_ ," explained ARI.

"That does not sound very welcoming," commented Yamato, taking stock of his surroundings for the first time.

He was in Tokyo, he remembered these streets, but they were nearly unrecognisable. Shopfronts were shattered and broken, cars crashed and overturned, vines growing everywhere.

"This is the world that acts as an afterlife for defeated monsters," explained ARI, sounding worried, "It lived in a kind of peace, with the humans taking on the form of a monster only part of the time."

"So what changed?" spoke Yamato as he hopped through a smashed shopfront, grabbing a heavy black coat off a mannequin and pulling it on.

"Inves, they were the enemies and later allies of the Armoured Riders," replied ARI, "However when they were defeated in our world and came here, this allowed the homeworld of the Inves to infect this one."

"So not friendly then?" queried Yamato, ducking behind the wall as three squat grey monsters he assumed were Inves lumbered down the street, stopping to eat strange purple fruit hanging from the vines.

Yamato's stomach grumbled, he couldn't remember the last time he ate, he was certain just one bite of the fruit would do.

"Stop, Yamato," cautioned ARI as he took a step forward.

Yamato frowned as he stopped in his tracks, "What was that?"

"A Helheim fruit from the homeworld of the Inves, its smell lures people and monsters into eating it, doing so turns them into an Inves," answered ARI, "I had to disable your sense of smell to break its hold over you."

"Evil fruit," sighed Yamato, "What next, flying cars?"

ARI spoke up, "Well, actually-"

"Please, just don't," interrupted Yamato, "I really don't think I can take to much more of crazy today."

"Then may I suggest we begin the search for the portal to the next world," offered ARI.

"Search?"

"The Foundation X data I have only gives a general area of Shibuya City," explained ARI.

"That's not too bad," commented Yamato.

"15.11 square kilometres."

"Shit."

* * *

 _Foundation X Headquarters_

Onyx stared the master portal, through which Yamato had vanished through only a few hours ago. Sighing, Onyx pulled a silver FullBottle out of his axe, his suit fading away. Looking up, a man nearing fifty ran a hand through his greying hair.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" demanded Osamu as he stormed into the lab.

"Good morning, Mr. Takahashi," greeted Onyx, "Yamato had become more of a problem than he was worth."

"You should have killed Test Subject 7 while you had the chance," snapped Osamu, "Now he's in another world, with free run and all four limbs for the first time since he was a child!"

"So we find him," refuted Onyx.

"See that you do," hissed Osamu, "Find him and take a squad of Kurokage Troopers to bring him in, Test Subject 13 as well."

"Roger," nodded Onyx, bowing slightly before leaving the lab.

"After all these years of having to hide you away," spat Osamu, "You're still bringing me shame, Yamato."

* * *

 _Harajuku Ward, Seven Months Later_

A dark figure dressed in a long coat dodged through the ruined streets as the sun began to set. Sprinting at top speed the figure raced down a side street past the veneers of destroyed shops, clothes rotting on their mannequins.

"How many hostiles, ARI?" questioned Yamato as he pulled down his hood, his hair longer, a scruff of a beard covering the lower half of his face.

"Six," replied ARI, "Two advanced,the rest are only elementary, however I am getting strange readings from one of them."

"Not good," sighed Yamato, drawing his Alpha Driver and strapped it to his waist.

Shaking his Crystal FullBottle, Yamato flicked the switch on the top and slotted it into his Driver, steeling himself as he did.

[CRYSTAL!]

Grabbing hold of the handle of his Driver, Yamato strode out of the street as his purple and black suit materialised around him.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTAL / ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

"I will change my fate with these hands," stated Hansei as he approached the group of monsters.

Charging forwards, Hansei lashed out at a blue Elementary Inves, sending crashing back into an Advanced Lion Inves.

[BOLTECH FINISH!]

Purple energy gathered around the forms of the stunned Inves, making the shape of a crystal ball, trapping them inside.

Crouching down, Hansei waited as purple energy gathered around his left foot. Pushing off the ground, cracking the pavement as he did, Hansei leapt into the air, slowing as he reached his maximum height.

Stretching out his glowing foot, Hansei gave a yell as he rocketed forwards, striking the energy ball that encased the two Inves.

Landing nearby, Hansei turned to watch as the energy ball exploded, the two Inves vanishing in a hail of purple fire.

"Now let's deal with the others," spoke Hansei as he reached out his hand, two pipes shot out his Driver, forming the Sonic Arrow in his grip.

Turning to face the three remaining Elementary Inves, Hansei charged forwards, peppering them shots. Approaching the nearest Inves, Hansei switched his grip on the Sonic Arrow, using the bladed section to slash at it.

Rolling to one side to avoid the explosion, Hansei swept the feet from under one of the Inves, firing his Sonic Arrow at point blank range.

Soaring backwards from the explosion, Hansei landed hard on the concrete, rolling to a stop. Groaning, Hansei pushed himself to his feet.

"ARI, remind me to never do that again."

"Noted," replied ARI.

"Let's try again," muttered Hansei as he unhooked the Cherry Energy Lockseed he took from the X-Rider, Chishio, from his belt.

Slotting it into the Sonic Arrow, Hansei pulled back the handle, aiming the weapon towards the two remaining Inves, one Elementary and the other an Advanced Inves unlike any Hansei had seen before.

It had the same body as a Byakko Inves, but with an entirely different head, gold and themed after a chimera.

Steeling himself, Hansei adjusted his aim, focusing on the Elementary Inves. Releasing the handle a red arrow shot out the bow, hitting the Elementary Inves.

Two large cherries appeared around the Elementary Inves, swinging around before pressing inwards, crushing it before it suddenly exploding.

Shifting his aim to the chimera Inves, Hansei began to pull back the handle. Suddenly the chimera Inves stumbled backwards in horror.

Lowering his Sonic Arrow, Yamato watched as the chimera Inves continued to react wildly, almost like a human would.

"ARI, what is going on?" asked Hansei, stepping backwards.

"The readings I've getting from this Inves are very strange," explained ARI, "This Inves is still human, deep down, it was so stubborn, too willing to cling to life to be truly overtaken."

"Can we save, whoever this is?" questioned Hansei.

"I'm think so," replied ARI, "In fact I think you've already started the process, destroying that Inves must have triggered a memory, perhaps even of his own destruction."

The chimera Inves gave a roar as vines drew around its body, obscuring it from view. Collapsing to its knees, green energy began to shine out of the gaps between the vines.

Covering his eyes to shield them from the light, Hansei braced himself as the cocoon of vines exploded, the force pushing him backwards a few paces.

Lowering his hand, Hansei blinked as his eyes readjusted. Where the chimera Inves had been was now a man in his early twenties dressed in a black leather jacket, an open yellow shirt below it, laid unconscious on the road.

"Who is he?" queried Hansei as he approached the man.

"Accessing database," stated ARI, "Match found, Foundation X has a file on him, he's from the same world as us, his name is Ryoji Hase and he was one of Yggdrasil's test subjects for the Sengoku Driver, he was also known as Armoured Rider Kurokage."

"How did he end up as an Inves?" asked Hansei, pulling the FullBottle from his Alpha Driver, cancelling his transformation.

"In December 2013, Ryoji Hase fought one of Yggdrasil's own Riders, Takatora Kureshima, he was defeated and his Sengoku Driver badly damaged," explained ARI, "The effects of this lead to him having a mental breakdown, resulting in him consuming a Helheim fruit, transforming him into an Inves."

Grunting, Yamato slung Hase's arm around his shoulder and lifted him.

"He retained some of his human intelligence but was later defeated by New Generation Rider Sigurd," continued ARI.

A loud bang sounded from behind Yamato, making him turn to look. Silver energy crackled as a portal began to open, Yamato could see human shapes on the other.

"Run, Yamato!" warned ARI, spurring him into action

Hoisting Hase over his shoulder, Yamato raced into an alley at inhuman speed, his cybernetic implants working overtime.

Coming to a halt, Yamato set Hase down against the alley wall and crouched down behind a bin to watch as a small army of Riders poured out of the portal, each one had the same undersuit as Chishio but with a set of armour themed after a pinecone.

Yamato frowned, "Are they-"

"X-Riders? Yes," finished ARI, "Or more accurately Kurokage Troopers, the footsoldiers used by Yggdrasil and later other organisations and individuals such as Black Linden, Megahex and currently, Foundation X."

"They found me, this cannot get any worse," muttered Yamato.

"Fan out and search the area, the scanners show he transformed in this area not long ago!" ordered a familiar voice.

Yamato looked up and paled, it was Onyx, the man who cast him out to this desolate world, transformed with his axe, Yamato had learned from ARI was called the Onyx Breaker, strapped to his back.

"I just had to open my big mouth didn't I?" sighed Yamato as the Kurokage Troopers began to spread out, "ARI, you got an escape plan for me?"

"I'm afraid not," spoke ARI, "This alley is a dead end, you'll have to fight your way through.

Gathering himself, Yamato drew his Crystal FullBottle when a loud noise stopped him.

[CONNECT, PLEASE!]

Watching in shock, Yamato scrambled backwards a red seal appeared at the entrance of the alley, immediately alerting the Kurokage Troopers to his location.

"There he is!" called a Trooper as he and two others raced towards them.

The light of the seal began to pulse as a figure slowly rose from it. It was a black Kamen Rider, with hexagonal diamond jewels set into his helmet and chest, a coat reaching down nearly to his ankles.

Raising his left hand, the Rider slid a large ring on and lower it to his waist where a strange Driver with a gold outlined hand-print was.

[SLEEP, PLEASE!]

Pointing his hand at Yamato, he suddenly felt very tired, slowly collapsing on the floor of the alley.

"Now, it's showtime!" announced the rider as he turned to face the approaching Kurokage Troopers.

"Yamato! Yamato!" called ARI as Yamato's eyes slowly closed, darkness consuming him.

* * *

 _Antique Shop Omokagedo_

Yamato jerked awake, panicking for a few seconds before he managed to calm himself and take in his surroundings.

"I really need to stop getting knocked out," muttered Yamato as he examined what seemed to be an antique shop, before his eyes landed on a teenage girl sat behind the counter, "Where am I?"

"Why should I tell you anything, X-Rider," retorted the girl, going back reading a dusty book.

"Where am I?" whispered Yamato, glancing up to see his hands chained to a pipe.

"An antique shop located just outside of Tokyo," explained ARI, in Yamato's ear, "It appears to have been a point of interest for Foundation X when they scouted this world, but a magical barrier of an unknown origin was protecting it."

"Magic?" repeated Yamato, "Magic is real?"

"Yes, it is," spoke a voice.

Looking up, Yamato found himself face-to-face with another teenager, a boy this time, barely older than fifteen, the same hand-print Driver on his waist as the black and silver rider.

"You're him, the Rider that knocked me out!" exclaimed Yamato, trying pull himself up, his bindings stopping him.

"My name is Haruto Souma," replied the teen, before gesturing towards the girl, "This is Koyomi."

"Mind letting me go?" asked Yamato, with what he hoped was a winning smile.

Haruto rolled his eyes and sighed, waving his hand, the chains fading to in nothingness.

"Thanks," stated Yamato, pushing himself to his feet only to find a silver sword to his neck.

"Don't try anything funny, X-Rider," warned Haruto, "The wards stop myself and Koyomi, and anyone we consider guests from being harmed, you, you are not our guest."

"You're our prisoner," added Koyomi as she shut her book and stood up, "The wards don't protect you, but they do stop you from crossing the ward boundary and escaping."

"So I shouldn't piss either of you off?" queried Yamato, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Shut up, X-Rider!" replied Koyomi.

"I think your attempt at levity has failed," spoke ARI.

"You don't say," sighed Yamato.

"Who are you talking to?" questioned Haruto.

"No one, at all," responded Yamato nervously, "Just myself."

"Looks like you aren't just one of the X-Rider grunts," mused Haruto, "You're one their commanders, you've got one their AIs, haven't you?"

Going to protest, Yamato was cut short when Haruto used his sword to slash his t-shirt open, revealing the mainframe integrated into his chest.

Yamato sighed, "I can explain."

"Do it, fast!" snapped Haruto, putting his sword back to Yamato's neck.

"Foundation X, they took me, my father gave me to them," explained Yamato, "They did this to me, ripped me apart and stitched me back together again, changed me. The had me sedated and waiting to brainwashed, but I woke up."

"I managed to convince ARI not to alert them," continued Yamato, "We broke free and I found my Driver, I transformed and fought them off."

"Then what?" questioned Koyomi.

"One of them, Onyx, claimed I was too much trouble and cast me out to this world," explained Yamato, "I've been here ever since, searching for the portal to get me closer to home."

Haruto hesitated, "I should just toss you outside the wards and leave you to the Inves."

"But you're not?" offered Yamato, sighing with relief as Haruto lowered his sword.

"I'm not, but I'm not just gonna take your story at face value," replied Haruto, "Follow me."

Turning around, Haruto walked past the counter and into the back, Koyomi following after him.

"This just keeps getting better and better," sighed Yamato, trudging after the others.

"Your tone suggests sarcasm," spoke ARI.

"Really?" muttered Yamato as he entered a room after the other two, "Woah."

The room was like a dungeon, dimly lit with strange bowls of water set into the wall. Nearby, Hase was bend over the bowl with his face touching the surface, green veins running down his neck.

"Your friend here woke up awhile ago," explained Haruto, "The Inves infection in his system is stable for now, his human side is in control."

"He's a jerk, but at least he's not an X-Rider," murmured Koyomi under her breath.

"What are these?" asked Yamato, gesturing towards the bowls.

"Scrying bowls," answered Haruto, "They allow you to see into the past, present and future."

"Neat," grinned Yamato, "Who made them?"

"A friend, the closest thing I had to a father," responded Haruto, his eyes hazy.

Yamato frowned, it wasn't hard to guess what had happened.

"I'm letting Hase catch up on what happened to his friends and fellow riders after he was defeated and sent here," informed Haruto, changing the subject, "We're going to use one to check your story."

[VISION, PLEASE!]

Aiming his hand at the nearest scrying bowl, red energy encasing it for a few seconds.

"Showtime," muttered Haruto, before leaning forward and touching his face to the surface of the water, Koyomi following his lead.

"Okay, if this goes south is there anyway out of these wards they mentioned?" queried Yamato, checking his coat, sighing with relief as he found his Driver and FullBottle.

"A high energy pulse may be able to overload the wards temporarily," informed ARI.

Yamato nodded, "That sounds-"

"Looks like your story checks out," spoke Haruto as he lifted his face from the surface of the bowl, Koyomi only a few seconds later.

"So am I free to go?" asked Yamato.

"No," replied Haruto, "We're going to help you find the portal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 04: The Demons Within**

* * *

 _Antique Shop Omokagedo_

"Looks like your story checks out," spoke Haruto as he lifted his face from the surface of the bowl, Koyomi only a few seconds later.

"So am I free to go?" asked Yamato.

"No," replied Haruto, "We're going to help you find your portal."

Yamato laughed, "No, you're not."

Haruto hesitated for a second before he raised his sword to Yamato's neck again, "Yes, you are."

"Okay, I am," replied Yamato, holding up his hands.

Slowly lowering his sword to his side, Haruto spoke, "When the Inves started taking over this world, that's when Foundation X showed up, they attacked the shop, killed my mentor and took two of my friends, I haven't seen them since."

Yamato stepped forward slightly, "Haruto-"

"You being here, in this world has brought them back," continued Haruto, "So that's why I'm, no we're, going to help you leave."

Yamato nodded, "Let's get to work."

* * *

Onyx slammed his fist down on the table, rattling it.

"You had that shop surrounded," spoke Onyx, "How did just let them leave, Masato?"

"We couldn't stop them," explained a guard, the same Yamato had fought, X-Rider Chishio, "The boy, Wizard, he opened a portal and the four of them left."

"First you let Yamato Takahashi escape mental readjustment," growled Onyx, "Now this!"

Masato paled, "Sir, I promise that I won't allow Takahashi to escape again."

"Personally, I'd have you wiped and dumped on a world where there was nothing for you to screw up," stated Onyx menacingly, making Masato even more nervous, "But some higher than myself thinks you deserve another chance."

Placing a briefcase on the table, Onyx opening it and spun it around to face Masato, revealing a Sengoku Driver with a Mango Lockseed and a Matsubokkuri Energy Lockseed on either side of it.

* * *

 _Harajuku Ward_

"I still don't get why we have to bring the guy who was going to blow me up with us if he's one of those X-Riders you were going on about?" grumbled Hase as he hopped off his Sakura Hurricane, Yamato following his lead, the two having been forced to share.

"He's who Foundation X wants," explained Koyomi, as she and Haruto slid off the MachineWinger, "We help the two of you leave, they follow you and we don't have to worry about Foundation X."

"So glad to see you're doing this out of the goodness your heart," commented Yamato as Haruto pulled out another ring, slipping it on his finger and scanning it with his Driver.

[LOCATE, PLEASE!]

A ball of blue energy shot out of Haruto's Driver, hovering for a few seconds before moving to point to their left.

"This tracing spell should take us right to the portal," informed Haruto.

"I just want to try something ARI's suggested," spoke Yamato, the others watch as he held up his Crystal FullBottle, shaking it.

[LOCATE, PLEASE!]

Holding it out, a ball of purple energy shot out of the FullBottle, spinning for a few seconds, before joining the blue energy ball.

Haruto's mouth dropped open, "H-How?"

"It the true power of the Crystal FullBottle, so long as I'm transformed or holding it, it can copy anything I see being done, allowing me to reproduce it later."

"But you're not a wizard or even a gate like Hase, how?" questioned Haruto, "It breaks the fundamental laws of magic, how?"

Yamato grinned, "It's simple, science."

"Yamato, stop annoying him and let's just find this portal," warned Koyomi, setting off after the two tracers.

"Ass," muttered Haruto as he pushed past Yamato, summoning his WizarSwordGun.

"He really doesn't like you, does he?" stated Hase, as he set off, Yamato falling in step beside him.

"No, that's because I'm one Foundation X's monsters, deep down, even if I don't act like one," replied Yamato, continuing when he saw the confused look on Hase's face, "I had an accident, a bad one, when I was a kid, my father hid me away out of some sort of shame for years, then gave me to Foundation X."

"They _upgraded_ me, replaced what I'd lost, enhanced the rest, fitted me with a state-of-the-art AI, ARI," spoke Yamato, "Then we managed to escape, myself and ARI, before I could be brainwashed into being their soldier."

"Shit, that's fucked up," stated Hase, "So what's kept you going?"

"The idea of going home, seeing my sister, my best friend and my mother again," muttered Yamato, "That's what keeps me going, what about you?"

"My friend, Jonouchi," replied Hase, "We've been friends since we were kids, not that he'll want anything to me now I'm an Inves, even if my mind is human, for now."

"You're not a monster," commented Koyomi from ahead, "Either of you, you may have the powers of a monster, but you have the choice of what you do with that power, good or bad."

"Three hostiles approaching, Kurokage Troopers," spoke ARI in Yamato's ear, making him freeze.

"Watch out!" cautioned Haruto, holding out his arm to stop the others.

"We need to find another way around," added Yamato, examining the roadblock the Troopers had set up, "If they see us they'll call it in and Onyx will know we're coming."

"I've got a better idea," responded Haruto, scanning a ring.

[DARKNESS, PLEASE!]

A black cloud bellowed out of Haruto's Driver, shrouding the roadblock in smoke.

"Now!" whispered Haruto, the four of them charging forward.

Launching himself at the first Trooper, Hase delivered a double footed kick to the chest, Yamato swinging his metal arm, clothes lining the Trooper as he stumbled back.

Hase grabbed the Kagematsu from the first Trooper, using it to slash at the second Trooper, Haruto punching the Trooper in the chest and Koyomi following up by grabbing him around the neck, choking him into unconsciousness.

Summoning his Sonic Arrow, Yamato sliced at the last Trooper twice before pulling back the handle and taking careful aim, letting go.

As the smoke cleared, Yamato looked around at the three downed Troopers. Nearby, Hase was panting, trying to calm himself down as his eyes slowly returned from red to brown.

Unhooking the bandolier with a range of Lockseeds clipped on from one of the Troopers, Hase secured it around his chest, the strap on the back allowing him to slide the Kagematsu into.

"Looks like they won't be needing this," grinned Hase as he took a Mass Driver and Matsubokkuri Lockseed from one of the Troopers.

Slamming the Driver to his waist, Hase frowned as the belt failed to appear. Raising the Driver, Hase tried again and again, eventually giving up with a sigh.

"It's because I'm part-Inves, isn't it?" murmured Hase, tossing the Mass Driver against a wall, watching as it bounced off and landed at his feet.

"We need to keep going," spoke Yamato, "Onyx will know we're coming when these guys don't check in."

"You're right," agreed Koyomi, setting off, Haruto following her.

Yamato looked over to Hase, who hadn't moved, "You okay?"

"Koyomi was wrong, I am a monster regardless of what I do," replied Hase, pushing past Yamato.

* * *

"A shrine," stated Yamato as he stared up at the ornate building, the two tracing orbs hovering by the entrance, "Foundation X is that twisted they'd turn a shine into their headquarters."

"I don't think so," spoke Koyomi, frowning, "This used to be waste land before the Helheim invasion."

"That's even more messed up," hissed Hase, "Building a shine to yourselves."

"Yeah, I think it was a department store in our world," added Yamato, "At least in my time."

"What do you mean, your time?" questioned Hase.

"These portals, don't just connect between worlds," explained ARI, using a speaker in Yamato's chest to talk to Hase, "They also connect different times."

"I left our world in 1993," continued Yamato, "It's 2007 in this world, worlds don't exactly run parallel in terms of time."

"Pretty much all I understood of that was that you're from 1993," replied Hase, "Me and science don't really mix, but magic, that's pretty cool."

"Let's just get on with this," sighed Haruto as he pushed the doors open, the four of them stepping inside.

"This isn't at all creepy," commented Yamato as he looked around the empty room.

"Not as creepy as this will be," responded a deep voice.

The four wheeled around, coming face-to-face with a transformed Onyx, Masato and a squadron of Kurokage Troopers. Falling into fighting stances, Haruto and Yamato both stepped forwards, the former swiping his Driver On Ring over the Hand Author on his belt, the latter slamming his Alpha Driver to his waist.

[DRIVER ON, PLEASE!]

"I've been waiting seven months for some revenge," stated Yamato, shaking his Crystal FullBottle before slotting it into his Driver.

"I will defeat you, X-Rider!" called Haruto as he slid his Infinity Ring onto his left hand, flipping the Hand Author on his Driver and scanning the ring.

"HENSHIN!"

[SHABADOOBI TOUCH HENSHIN!]

[CRYSTAL] / [INFINITY, PLEASE!]

Turning the handle of his Alpha Driver, the frame appeared around Yamato, the pipes creating the armor halves in front of and behind him. A pale blue seal materialised above Haruto, travelling diagonally downwards towards him.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTAL / ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

[INFINITY, PLEASE! / HI-SUI-FU-DO! BOU-ZABA-BYU-DOGON!]

In a flash of light the two transformed, Hansei assuming his normal purple Crystal Form, while Haruto's suit was the same as the one he'd used to fight Onyx and his lackeys.

"Kamen Rider Mugen," sneered Onyx, unhooking his axe from his back, "It's been a while."

"You have a lot to answer for, Onyx," hissed Mugen, summoning his WizarSwordGun in it's blade mode.

"That may be true, but it won't be today," replied Onyx, lazily waving his free hand.

The Kurokage Troopers parted to reveal a squad of six Troopers walking forwards, each one holding the end of a chain, the other ends converging on a collar around the neck of a monster.

"Say hello to Test Subject 13," stated Masato, flashing a smug grin, "Also known as Venom Smash."

Venom Smash roared, his waist and legs were robotic while his torso had a sickly yellow-green snake with circular holes coiled around it. Charging forward, Venom Smash tried to break it chains.

"Tut-tut," sighed Masato, shaking his head as he raised his hand to reveal a remote, pushing one of the buttons.

Venom Smash screamed in pain as electricity arced out of collar around his neck, making it twist and writhe in pain.

Masato pointed the remote forward, aiming it directly at Hansei, "Attack!"

Venom Smash shot forward, colliding with Hansei sending him crashing to the floor. Skidding to a start, Venom Smash fired a barrage of pins from the holes in his chest.

Hase charged forwards, deflecting most of the pins with his Kagematsu, however a few managed to hit get through, hitting Hase and Hansei.

Pitching forwards, Yamato landed on all fours, his world starting to spin as his suit vanished. Looking up, Yamato frowned as Venom slowly changed to resemble his Crystal Form, but a darker hue of purple, the eyes and undersuit of the arms silver like Onyx's suit, the silver belt and axe also identical to Onyx's.

"No," slurred Yamato, as his surroundings faded to black, leaving him alone with this warped clone.

"This is your fate," spoke the clone in Hansei's voice, "Call me X-Rider Hizumi."

"No, no, I will never work for Foundation X," spat Yamato as he pushed himself to his feet, summoning his Sonic Arrow.

"How do you know you haven't already?" taunted Hizumi.

Yamato gritted his teeth, launching himself at Hizumi.

* * *

"What have you done to them?" demanded Mugen as he looked at the unconscious forms of Hase and Yamato, the latter's transformation had failed after being hit with the pins.

Masato grinned, glancing at Venom, "I'll take the Inves freak."

Venom grunted, slashing his fist through the air, two purple cracks appearing along Yamato and Hase's chests. Walking forwards, Masato vanished through Hase's crack, Venom disappearing inside Yamato.

"A Phantom?" murmured Koyomi.

"An artificial Phantom, merged with the power of a FullBottle," responded Onyx, walking towards Mugen, dragging his axe along the floor as he did, "Dr. Tachibana has truly outdone himself this time."

"Bastard!" spat Mugen.

"He even found a way to allow Subject 13 to enter a person's Underworld without them needing to be in despair or even being a gate at all," continued Onyx.

"And if the person who falls into despair isn't a gate?" questioned Mugen.

"They die," replied Onyx simply.

Charging at Onyx, Mugen switched his WizarSwordGun to Bullet Mode, dropping low and skidding past Onyx, firing off a hail of bullets.

Onyx stumbled slightly, his suit smoking slightly, "That peashooter won't even make a scratch."

Blurring forwards, Onyx slashed Mugen with his Onyx Breaker, sending him crashing to the ground.

Mugen gritted his teeth, he jumping at Onyx, switching to Blade Mode, slashing his leg in the undersuit.

"How's that for making a scratch?" taunted Mugen, watching as Onyx clutched his leg, blood dripping from between his fingers.

Onyx growled, "Get him!"

Snapping to attention, the Kurokage Troopers surrounded Mugen, trapping him in.

Mugen grinned under his helmet, lowering his hand to his Hand Author.

[EXPLOSION, PLEASE!]

* * *

 _Hase's Underworld_

Pushing himself to his feet, Hase picked up his Kagematsu, looking around him.

"I'm home?" muttered Hase, staring up at Yggdrasil Tower, shining in the bright sunlight.

"Ryoji?"

Turning with a big grin on his face, Hase's eyes landed on Jonouchi.

"Jonouchi!" cheered Hase, going to pull him into a hug.

Before he could react, Hase found himself flying backwards from a punch to the chest from Jonouchi.

"You freak, you Inves filth," spat Jonouchi, attaching a Sengoku Driver to his waist.

"J-Jonouchi?" questioned Hase, scrambling backwards.

"Ryoji is dead, you're just an Inves who took over his body," hissed Jonouchi, raising a Mango Lockseed and a Matsubokkuri Energy Lockseed, the normally blue plastic of the latter red instead, and pressing the switch on the side.

[MANGO!] [MATSUBOKKURI ENERGY!]

"I will destroy you, monster!" exclaimed Jonouchi, slotting the Lockseeds into his Driver, pushing the knife down.

[LOCK ON!]

A crack opened above Jonouchi, the Mango and Matsubokkuri Armour Parts appearing from it, fusing together as they did. Bracing himself, Jonouchi grinned as it lowered onto his shoulders, a black undersuit materialising around his body.

[SOIYA! - MANGO ARMS! MIGHT OF HAMMER!] [JINBA MATSUBOKKURI!] [HAHA!]

The armour unfolded, a Sonic Arrow appearing in Jonouchi's hand.

"Jonouchi, don't do this," pleaded Hase, "I'm you're friend."

"You're a monster," sneered Jonouchi, "You're not my friend!"

"No, no, no!" cried Hase, collapsing to his knees as purple cracks appeared all over his body.

* * *

 _Yamato's Underworld_

Groaning, Yamato pushed himself back to his feet, "ARI? ARI? Can you hear me?"

"She won't reply," spoke Hizumi, striding towards Yamato, "Don't you get it? She is loyal to Foundation X, she's been guiding you, pushing you to this point, so you take you true place as an X-Rider."

"No, I'll never become like you," retorted Yamato, drawing his Alpha Driver.

"Not yet, but soon," chuckled Hizumi, lurching forwards, knocking the Driver from Yamato's hand, delivering a kick to his chest.

"I don't believe you," grunted Yamato as he tried and failed to get up.

"Then let me show you," spoke Kizumi, walking over and wrapping his hands around Yamato's head.

Yamato cried out in pain as images, memories flew by, his childhood, the accident, Touka being born, being put in a care home. Suddenly, the images became ones Yamato didn't remember, himself transformed as Hansei stabbing a man in the chest, Touka's broken body on the floor, Kohei's next to hers.

"I am your fate," spat Hizumi, yanking Yamato up by his hair before slamming his face on the floor.

"NO!" cried Yamato, a criss-cross of cracks appearing all over his body.

* * *

"We need to stop that Phantom," stated Koyomi as Mugen dropped back, most of the Kurokage Troopers unconscious or their Drivers wrecked.

"I can't leave you here by yourself," argued Mugen, looking over to where Hase and Yamato were lying on the ground, purple cracks all over their body.

"I'll be fine, Haruto," reassured Koyomi, taking Mugen's hand, "You need to stop that Phantom Smash hybrid."

Mugen sighed, "Okay, but please be safe, I can't lose you, you are my final hope."

"And you are mine," replied Koyomi, reaching up and pushing her lips to the forehead of Mugen's helmet.

Mugen nodded and dropped his hand to his Driver.

[ENGAGE, PLEASE!]

Turning to face Yamato, Mugen waited as a red seal appeared above his unconscious body.

"It's showtime," murmured Mugen as he leapt forward, disappearing through the seal, which quickly faded away.

"Looks like you're all alone and defenceless," growled Onyx as he limped towards Koyomi.

"Who's said anything about defenceless?" retorted Koyomi, holding up her right hand to reveal a ring with a red outlined handprint on it.

[DRIVER ON, NOW!]


	5. Chapter 5

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 05: Showdown, Please!**

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple_

[DRIVER ON, NOW!]

Koyomi raised her left hand, sliding a pink jeweled ring on her finger. Lowering her hand to the Driver on her waist, identical to Haruto's but with a red hand-print instead.

"HENSHIN!"

[HOPE, NOW!]

Scanning the Hope Ring, Koyomi crossed her arms as a pink seal slowly lowered over her body. In her place stood a figure in a suit similar to Haruto's, however the black sections were white, silver to gold, the jeweled areas a vibrant pink, a gold-trimmed hood pulled up, two ring holders on the chest in place of jewels, a white cape flaring out behind her.

"I am the last hope!" announced the figure, "I am Kamen Rider Kibou!"

[CONNECT, NOW!]

Reaching inside a pink seal, Kibou drew a black cane with golden spearhead on the end from within.

Charging at the nearest Kurokage Trooper, Kibou swung her Hamel Cane, sending the Trooper flying. Digging the spearhead into the ground, Kibou used it to launch herself at another Trooper.

Landing as the Trooper dropped to the ground beside her, suit vanished as he did. Spinning around, Kibou grabbed her cane, releasing it again as she continued to turning, nailing a Trooper in the helmet.

[CHAIN, NOW!]

Flicking her wrist, chains appeared from nowhere, wrapping up the last three Troopers. Pulling her hand back the Troopers soared towards Kibou as she switched rings.

[BIG, NOW!]

A seal appeared in front of Kibou, who quickly stuck her hand inside, coming out the other side much larger. Swinging her enlarged hand, Kibou smacked the Troopers, sending them flying into a wall, causing it to crack and crumble.

"Looks like it's one-on-one now," stated Kibou as her hand returned to its normal size.

"I'm afraid that won't be the case," replied Onyx, drawing a black device from his belt, pressing a button on the top.

A silvery portal appeared behind Onyx, which he turned and entered as soon as it opened. Running forwards, Kibou scooped up her Hamel Cane and charged after him, only to be stopped as a fist materialised out of the portal, hitting Kibou in the chest.

Rolling to a stop, Kibou looked up to watch as two hooded figures appeared from the portal, a squad of Kurokage Troopers fanning out behind them.

"Do they ever run out of these guys?" muttered Kibou as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Hello, Koyomi," spoke one of the hooded figures.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" added the second.

"How do you know my name?" demanded Kibou.

"Huh, you'd have thought she'd recognise her own friends," commented the first figure, as they both pulled down their hoods to reveal their faces.

"No," murmured Kibou, "Rinko? Shunpei?"

"In the flesh," grinned Rinko as she and Shunpei raised their hands to show red rings on them.

[DRIVER ON, NOW!]

"HENSHIN!" called Rinko and Shunpei as they scanned their red jewelled rings over their Drivers.

[FUSION, NOW!]

Two red seals appeared close to their left legs, moving diagonally up their bodies, red light engulfing them.

Covering her eyes with her hands, Kibou watched as the glowing outlines of Rinko and Shunpei merged into one.

[FUSION, NOW! - YU, YU, YU, YUGO!]

As the light dimmed a figure stepped forward, in a suit near identical to Kamen Rider Mage's, the khaki section black, the skirt swapped for coat similar to Mugen's, the jewels in the chest and helmet a bright red.

"X-Rider Yugo!" called the figure, the voice distinctly Rinko's.

"I thought we were going with Igo?" questioned Shunpei's voice, sounding slightly distant.

"We talked about this," snapped Yugo in Rinko's voice, "It's my body, I choose the name!"

"Glad to see some things don't change," muttered Kibou as she retrieved the Hamel Cane, dropping into a fighting stance.

"Shut up and do your job," snapped Rinko before Yugo charged at Kibou, swinging its claw wildly.

Dodging backwards, Kibou spun around and prepared to attack with her spear when a Kurokage Trooper body slammed her, sending her stumbling.

Grunting, Kibou slid a ring on her hand and quickly scanned it.

[EXPLOSION, NOW!]

A series of fireballs appeared, engulfing Yugo and the Kurokage Troopers. Kibou backed away in shock as the smoke cleared, revealing red barrier of energy had protected them.

"H-How?" questioned Kibou, they hadn't even had to scan a ring.

"This the power of two mages, fused as one!" exclaimed Shunpei, "It's awesome, just watch this. Chi Chi Pui Pui!"

A torrent of fire spewed from Yugo's hand, engulfing Kibou in a sea of orange. Coughing, Kibou collapsed to the floor, her suit charred in places.

Glancing over to where Hase and Yamato laid, Kibou gritted her teeth, "Hurry up, Haruto."

* * *

 _Hase's Underworld_

Staring at his hands, Hase watched as the cracks continued to deepen as the despair threaten to consume him.

"You always were weak," spat Jonouchi in his Rider armour as he circled Hase.

"I'm sorry, Uchi," pleaded Hase desperately, "Please!"

"You're a monster," hissed Jonouchi, "You deserve to die, Ryoji."

Hase slowly looked up, "Ryoji, you called me Ryoji."

"And?" growled Jonouchi, stopping and turning to face Hase.

"I hate the name," spoke Hase, the cracks stopping their growth, "Jonouchi would never call me Ryoji, ever."

"Y-Yes, I would," stuttered Jonouchi, flustered.

"No, you're not Jonouchi," replied Hase, pushing himself to his feet, "You're a fake!"

A bright purple light covered Hase's body as Jonouchi backed away.

Suddenly, the light around Hase exploded, hitting Jonouchi, his armour vanishing, a waving of energy passing over him, peeling away his disguise.

Masato crashed to the ground, watching as the light faded, revealing Hase, the cracks gone, the green veins on his neck normal again, his eyes a deep brown.

"I will defeat you, fake!" called Hase as he strode towards Masato.

"My name is Chishio!" spat Masato as slammed his Driver on his waist again, slotting the Mango and Matsubokkuri Energy Lockseeds in.

[SOIYA - MANGO ARMS! MIGHT OF HAMMER!] [JINBA MATSUBOKKURI!] [HAHA!]

Charging forward, Masato transformed back into his Rider suit, swinging his Sonic Arrow wildly at Hase.

Dropping low, Hase ducked under Chishio's attack, spinning and sweeping his feet out from under him. Raising his right hand, Hase watched as vines grew around it, retreating to reveal his arm from his Inves form.

"I'm in control now," stated Hase, grinning as he grabbed Chishio around his neck with his clawed hand. Raising Chishio off the ground, Hase started walking forward, gathering speed as he did.

With a roar, Hase slammed Chishio into a wall, cracking it as he did. Stepping backwards, Hase watched as the other rider collapsed to the ground, the pieces of the wall raining down on him.

* * *

 _Yamato's Underworld_

A red seal appeared, Mugen stepping through it, looking around him as he did.

Nearby, Yamato had collapsed to his knees, his body covered in deep purple cracks, in front of him was another rider, in a suit similar to Yamato's Crystal Form.

"This is all wrong," murmured Mugen, "Yamato isn't a Gate, he doesn't have an inner Phantom, I have to destroy the artificial Phantom, where is he?"

"The Phantom you are searching is disguised as the purple Rider," spoke a voice.

"Who's there?" questioned Mugen, dodging behind a wall, the purple Rider still busy taunting Yamato to notice him.

"My name is ARI," explained the voice, "I am the AI Yamato was fitted with before his escape, however, that monster is stopping him from hearing me."

"Why is the Phantom using Yamato's Rider form to make him fall into desire?" questioned Mugen.

"The phantom has merged Yamato's Crystal Form with Onyx's suit in order to convince him that his destiny is to be Foundation X's puppet," answered ARI, "It's calling itself Hizumi."

"So I need to destroy the Phantom to free Yamato and Hase?" mused Mugen as he summoned his WizarSwordGun in its blaster mode.

"It does seem that way," replied ARI.

"Then, it's showtime!" spoke Mugen, launching himself out of cover, firing at Hizumi.

"Mugen," spat Hizumi, turning to face him.

Carrying his momentum forwards, over the top of Hizumi, Mugen switched his weapon to blade mode, slashing him down the back.

"Yamato, wake up!" urged Mugen, glancing over.

Before Mugen could react, Hizumi smashed his axe into him. Flying backwards, Mugen landed next to Yamato, a large crack appearing in his helmet.

"I could do with this some help, Yamato," grunted Mugen as he pushed himself back to his feet.

Yamato slowly looked up, his eyes focusing on Mugen, "I'm a monster, I can't escape that fate."

"YAMATO!" yelled Mugen, before charging at Hizumi, ducking under a swing from his Onyx Breaker, rolling to one side.

"You're not a monster!" called Mugen, "What happened wasn't your fault!"

Yamato's eyes snapped open wide.

* * *

 _Tokyo Medical University, 1978_

Yamato strained as he struggled to move his left arm, his turning red, sweat forming on his forehead as his arm twitched slightly.

"I can't do it!" exclaimed Yamato, angrily, lashing out with his good leg, causing the table to rattle.

"Shiro, calm down!" called Kyoko, placing a hand on Yamato's shoulder.

"I hate this, I hate being like this!" cried Yamato, tears streaming down his face, "It's all my fault!"

Kyoko shook her head, "What happened wasn't your fault!"

"It was," murmured Yamato as Kyoko wrapping him in a tight hug, "It was, it was, it was."

"It wasn't, never was," whispered Kyoko, "Do you know why I call you Shiro?"

"N-No," stuttered Yamato as Kyoko wiped away his tears.

"That was your grandfather's name, you look so much like him," spoke Kyoko, smiling as she did, "He always use tell me when I was a little girl that I could change my fate with my hands."

"I think I understand," responded Yamato, perking up slightly, "You mean that I have to work hard to get my moving again."

"Exactly," beamed Kyoko, "And I know you can do it."

Yamato nodded, "I'll work really really hard so I can draw pictures again!"

* * *

 _Yamato's Underworld, Present Day_

"It wasn't, it never was," muttered Yamato as he slowly stood up, grabbing his discarded Alpha Driver as he did.

"What wasn't?" demanded Hizumi, turning to face Yamato.

"This, my cybernetics, my accident," replied Yamato, drawing his Crystal FullBottle from his jacket, as the cracks covering his body faded away, "None of it was my fault."

"No, no, it is all your fault!" spat Hizumi, striding towards Yamato, raising his axe.

"That won't work on me anymore," grinned Yamato, shaking his FullBottle.

Hizumi swung his axe at Yamato, only to find him suddenly gone, wheeling around, Hizumi watched as Yamato blurred back into sight.

"What?" hissed Hizumi.

"The person you stole this from," spoke Yamato, waving the Crystal FullBottle, "He certainly had an experiment on its copying abilities, super-speed, diamond-hardening and even mirroring the power of a Best Match, in just one Bottle, let's us say, Foundation X really fucked when they let me escape with it."

"Then I'll take it back," sneered Hizumi, charging at Yamato.

Shaking the FullBottle again, Yamato grabbed the axe blade before it could hit him, his hand turning to diamond as he did.

"How's that working out for you?" queried Yamato, yanking the axe from Hizumi's grip as he span around, delivering a kick to the fake's chest, followed with a slash from the Onyx Breaker.

Hizumi seethed as Yamato grinned, tossing away the axe.

"Let's finish this," stated Yamato, giving the Crystal FullBottle a quick shake.

[CRYSTAL!]

"HENSHIN!"

Yamato crossed his arms over his chest as the two halves of his armour were materialised in front and behind him.

[ARE YOU READY?] [CRYSTAL! / IPPON NO BIN BEST MATCH!] [YEAH!]

Uncrossing his arms, the two halves of his suit encased Yamato, the shiny armour glinting in the sunlight. Holding his hand out, Yamato's Sonic Arrow appeared as he grabbed it.

Charging forward, Hansei slashed at Hizumi's chest, following it up with a kick, using it as springboard to flip backwards, landing next to Mugen.

"Need a hand?" asked Hansei as he reached down to Mugen.

"Thanks," replied Mugen as he pulled himself up.

"Ready to end this?" questioned Hansei, glancing across at Mugen.

"Finale!" announced Mugen and Hansei as the former switched his WizarSwordGun to blaster mode, placing his Infinity Ring on the handprint.

[BOLTECH FINISH!]

[C'MOM SHOOTING! SHAKE HANDS!]

A purple sphere encased Hizumi, trapping him in place. Cyan energy gather at the end of the WizarSwordGun as Mugen aimed it at Hizumi while Hansei leapt into the air.

[INFINITE SHOOTING STRIKE!]

Pulling the trigger, Mugen steadied himself against the recoil as a spew of diamond fired from the barrel, entering the purple sphere, slicing into Hizumi.

"I will never be you!" yelled Hansei as he shot towards Hizumi, his outstretched foot glowing with power.

Colliding with the sphere around Hizumi, Hansei came skidded to a halt behind the other rider as he exploded.

Turning around, Yamato cancelled his transformation as Hizumi fell to his knees, the facade disappearing to reveal the Venom Smash.

"I'm free," grunted Venom, clearly in pain, "Thank you."

Venom suddenly dissolved into a sea of multicoloured lights, soon fading away completely. Yamato slowly walked over, bending down to pick up a gold object.

"A new FullBottle," murmured Yamato, examining the device.

"The Python FullBottle," spoke ARI in Yamato's ear, "It is the Best Match to the Crystal FullBottle and one of the other FullBottles that Foundation X stole from Sento Kiryu."

"Cool," stated Yamato, pocketing the FullBottle in his jacket.

A sudden rumble shook the ground, making both Yamato and Mugen stumble slightly.

"What's happening?" questioned Yamato, looking around him.

"This was forced by the Venom Smash, with him destroyed this Underworld is falling apart," explained Mugen, watching as the skyline continued to shrink, "It's time to go."

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple_

Ducking up a swipe from Yugo's claw, Kibou grabbed the shaft of a Kagematsu before it could strike her, wrenching it out of the Trooper's hands, spinning it around and slashing its owner with it.

"Take this!" yelled Rinko as Yugo kicked Kibou in the knee, forcing her down, "This ends now!"

Raising their WizarSwordGun above their head, Yugo swung it down at Kibou, only for it to stop before it could complete its arc.

"Hello Rinko, Shunpei," spoke Mugen, his own WizarSwordGun blocking Yugo's.

"Haruto," spat Rinko, "Finally given up on saving the two freaks?"

"Who said anything about giving up," grinned Mugen under his helmet, jerking his head over to where Yamato and Hase laid, the purple cracks receding.

"No," gasped Rinko and Shunpei in sync.

"Koyomi, get down," stated Mugen, both himself and Kibou dodging behind a set of crates.

Yamato and Hase suddenly glowed gold before an explosion of energy enveloped him, Chishio flying outwards, crashing into Yugo.

As the light slowly fainted, Yamato and Hase appeared, the former holding the Crystal and Python FullBottles, one in each hand, while Hase was brandishing his original Sengoku Driver, Helheim energy travelling up his arm, repairing the crack and the broken knife.

"HENSHIN!"

Slamming his Sengoku Driver onto his waist, the faceplate lit up once more, showing Kurokage's helmet. Pulling a Matsubokkuri Lockseed from his bandolier, Hase cracking his knuckles as he did. Next to him Yamato likewise secured his Alpha Driver to his waist.

[CRYSTAL!] [PYTHON!] [BEST MATCH!]

[MATSUBOKKURI!]

Slotting his FullBottles into his Driver, Yamato watched as an image appeared in front of it, with the letters C and P, the background of the former purple while the latter gold. Hase grinned beside him, slamming his Lockseed into his Driver, shutting the arm.

[LOCK ON!]

Slicing down with the cutting knife, Hase opened his Matsubokkuri Lockseed, flicking his arm out behind him as Yamato grabbed the handle of his Driver, rotating it as he did.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTALPYTHON! - SUISHOU NO SLITHERING!] [YAY!]

The frame materialised around Yamato, a purple half of his armour being built in front of him and a golden half behind him. Above, the two of them a crack opened, a Matsubokkuri Armour Part gliding downwards out of it, landing on Hase's shoulders.

Crossing his arms and then swinging them to his side the two armour halves snapped together, encasing Yamato. The golden side of his suit was nearly identical to the Crystal side, the only difference was a gold striped handle with an array of buttons on his shoulder. On his helmet the Python eye was patterned like snakeskin, the Crystal eye had changed to reflect it.

Next to Yamato, the Matsubokkuri Armour Part unfolded, Hase's plain black and silver undersuit materialising around his body.

"I will change my fate these hands!" announced Hansei as his suit billowed a cloud of steam.

"I'm in control now!" stated Kurokage, drawing his Kagematsu from the holder on his back.

Appearing out of cover, Mugen and Kibou fell in line either side of Hansei and Kurokage, summoning their respective weapons.

Each falling to fighting stances, the four riders prepared themselves as Yugo and Chishio untangled, scrambling to their feet, the remaining Kurokage Troopers regrouping in front of them.

"Let's get to work!" grunted Kurokage as he span his Kagematsu before charging at the Troopers.

Glancing over at each other and nodding, Mugen and Kibou followed Hase into battle, working together to take down the Troopers, one at a time.

"Yamato, this new form comes with a weapon," spoke ARI before Hansei could join the others, "Draw the handle on your pauldron."

"Sure," nodded Yamato, grabbing the handle and holding it in front if his helmet, "What does it do?"

"Flick it," instructed ARI, Yamato frowned before doing as he was told, eyebrows shooting upwards under his helmet as a black whip appeared from the handle.

"I'm going to have so much fun with this," grinned Hansei, cracking the whip experimentally.

Lashing out, Hansei wrapped the PythonWhip around the ankle of a Kurokage Trooper, swinging him in an arc, smashing him into another a Trooper.

Swinging the whip again, Hansei yanked the Kagematsu from his grip, quickly catching it and using to dispatch two more Troopers, before sending it rocketing back at the one it was taken from.

Jumping over the Trooper as his transformation failed, Hansei used the whip to lock around a ceiling beam and swing around in an arc, kicking a Trooper trying to sneak up on Hase in the back.

"This _is_ fun!" cheered Hansei, lassoing a Trooper's outstretched hand, yanking hard, flinging him into a wall.

"Haruto!" called Kibou as a ring of Troopers surrounded her.

"On it!" replied Mugen, throwing his WizarSwordGun up into the air.

Stabbing her Hamel Cane into a Trooper's Mass Driver, Kibou grabbed the WizarSwordGun as it fell, spinning around as she shot a hail of bullets, switching to Blade Mode, slashing at the three Troopers still standing, sending them to the floor beside their comrades.

Locking their Kagematsu, Kurokage and Trooper squared off, each trying to force the other back. Suddenly, Hase let the pressure off, dropping low and swiping the Trooper's feet out from under him. Grabbing the Trooper's Driver, Hase wrenched it from his waist, crushing it in his hand, following it up with a headbutt, knocking the Trooper out.

Looking up as he pushed himself up straight, Hase looked around to see the last of the Troopers taken care of, unconscious or their Drivers destroyed.

"Chishio, we need to retreat," urged Shunpei as Yugo seemed to shake and twitch.

"We not running away!" yelled Rinko, fighting Shunpei for control of their shared body.

"Now, the finisher!" called Haruto, the other three Riders nodding in agreement.

Glancing down at his PythonWhip, Hansei spotted a slot at the bottom, just the right size for a FullBottle.

[MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!]

[YES, SPECIAL! UNDERSTAND?]

[C'MOM SLASH! SHAKE HANDS!]

[VICTORY DRIVE! PYTHON LASH!]

Inserting his Python into the handle of the whip, Hansei raised it above his head, spinning it like a lasso. To his left, Mugen swung his WizarSwordGun, a line of diamonds cutting into Chishio and Yugo.

Beside Mugen, Kibou directed her hand towards Yugo, a pyre of l flames striking the X-Rider, sending them flying into a wall, transformation failing as they did, both Rinko and Shunpei knocked unconscious.

"Time to go," grunted Chishio, turning to flee when Hansei's PythonWhip wrapped around him, glowing gold.

"I don't think so," grinned Hansei, yanking backwards, making the PythonWhip tighten, cracks forming in Shishio's armour, "Hase, finish this!"

"Gladly!" exclaimed Kurokage, launching into the air, aiming his Kagematsu at Chishio as he fell, the image of a pinecone materialising around the end of the weapon.

Striking Chishio in the back, Kurokage landed at the other side, watching as the X-Rider was swallowed by a fireball.

"Let's get that bastard," spat Haruto, cancelling his transformation, walking towards Chishio as the haze cleared, revealing him to gone, "Damn it!"

Yamato pulled his FullBottles from his Driver, stopping beside Haruto, "Was he the one, who-"

"He killed Wajima," finished Haruto.

"It's fine," assured Koyomi, taking Haruto's hand in hers, "Vengeance isn't for the best."

"ARI does have some good news," spoke Yamato, nodding over to where Rinko and Shunpei were laid, "Whatever we did broke the brainwashing Foundation X did."

"Thank goodness," smiled Koyomi.

"That was fun," grinned Hase, walking over as he returned the Kagematsu to the holster on the back of his bandolier, "Haven't had a good fight in too long."

"You are seriously messed up," stated Yamato, sighing.

"Ass," retorted Hase.

"Jerk," snapped Yamato, trying and failing to keep straight face, both him and Hase breaking into laughter.

"I'm sorry," apologised Koyomi, turning to face Yamato, surprising him and snapping him out of his laughing fit.

"What for?" questioned Yamato, looking puzzled.

"I didn't trust you," explained Koyomi, "I just assumed you were one of them even though you had a much reason to hate them as I do."

"It's fine," assured Yamato, cracking a smile as he held out his hand.

"Good to hear," nodded Koyomi, shaking Yamato's hand.

"Thank you," spoke Haruto, "Thanks to you we got Rinko and Shunpei back."

"I'm just happy to help," replied Yamato as Hase sidled up beside him.

"So what next for you guys?" asked Hase.

"This world is a living hell, I think it's time for a change," responded Koyomi, "We'll take Rinko and Shunpei and head through the other portal, the other way from you two, keep going till we find somewhere we can be a family again."

"Good luck," wished Yamato, Hase nodding in agreement.

"You too," smiled Haruto.

"Catch you around," added Hase, he and Yamato turning, approaching a door where the energy balls from the locator spells were still floating, pushing it open and entering the room, the portal glowing in front of them.

"Ready?" questioned Yamato, glancing at Hase.

"Ready."

Stepping forwards, the two vanished into the portal, gone in an instant.


	6. Chapter 6

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 06: A God Descends**

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple_

"Another temple," muttered Yamato as he and Hase appeared out of the portal, pushing the door open to reveal a grand hall identical to the one they'd just left, "That's three worlds in a rows."

"These Foundation X guys have got some serious issues," replied Hase as he walked into the hall, looking around, "At least the two things are close together, just hop from one to another."

Yamato's stomach suddenly growled, startling both him and Hase.

"Maybe we should get some food while we're in this world," suggested Yamato.

Hase nodded, "Yeah, I'm starving, I can't remember the last time I ate proper food, probably not since before I became an Inves."

"How long's that?" asked Yamato as he and Hase crossed the hall, pushing the doors to the outside world.

"Few years," replied Hase, frowning, "At least, I think, my memories of being a-"

"Hase, we've got a problem!" interrupted Yamato, pointing up a black smudge in the sky, getting larger and larger as it got closer.

Hase paled, "Is that a?"

"Yep," breathed Yamato, "RUN!"

Racing forwards, Hase quickly passed Yamato, his Inves side allowing him to outpace even Yamato's cybernetically enhanced speed.

Drawing his Crystal FullBottle, Yamato shook it desperately, his Rabbit super-speed kicking, instantly catching up to Hase and tackling him, sending them both rocketing away from the temple.

The missile smashed into the temple, the explosion engulfing the building.

Shaking his FullBottle, Yamato summoned the diamond hardness just as he hit the ground, rolling over and over until he came to a halt.

Attempting to shield himself with his arms, Hase watched in surprise as vines grew around him like a cocoon, cushioning him as he smashed into the ground, leaves flying everywhere.

Slowly pushing himself watched as debris rained down on the them, a chunk of rubble striking him in the temple, knocking Hase unconscious.

Grabbing a large section of wall Yamato clambered to his feet, hobbling over to where Hase's unconscious form laid, turning to watch as a portal opened in the ruins of the temple, Onyx with three soldiers behind him exiting from it.

Glancing at the broken remains of the two temple portals, Yamato grabbed Hase and slung him over his shoulder, making his escape before Onyx could realise they'd survived the explosion.

* * *

 _Cyber Rescue_

Sighing, Kuroto Dan span around in his chair, a gold Gashat sticking out of an adaptor connected to his laptop.

"Two years," murmured Kuroto, "Two years trapped in this world, trying to make a Gashat to rival Kamen Rider Chronicle."

A sudden beeping from his laptop surprised Kuroto, who quickly sat forward and span to face the screen.

Kuroto grinned manically, "Foundation X have returned, now I can escape from this pathetic world."

Standing, Kuroto grabbed his Gamer Driver and both his Gashats, heading for the exit.

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple_

"They escaped again," growled Onyx, seething as he stood among the rubble, staring at the remains of the two portals, "At least we've trapped them here."

A portal flared into life, man stepping out, the same one Yamato had injured in his rage before he escaped, arm in a sling. He was flanked by a woman with dark hair, a bored look on her face.

"Dr. Tachibana," spoke Onyx, calming his temper as he turned to face the man, "For what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Your mission to eradicate Takahashi has got an increase in resources," replied Dr. Tachibana, a cold smile on his face.

"Who authorised it?" questioned Onyx, walking closer to Dr. Tachibana.

"I did," spoke Dr. Tachibana, "In return, you make sure to capture the Inves hybrid, don't worry, you can still kill Takahashi."

"That can be done," nodded Onyx.

"Excellent," grinned Tachibana, his eyes glinting, "Elena, give them the case."

Stepping forward, Tachibana's guard held out a case, allowing Onyx to take it. Resting the case on a larger piece of rubble, Onyx opened it to reveal an array of items.

"That is an upgrade to your Onyx Breaker, the Transteam Breaker, lighter, fast and more deadly," explained Tachibana as Onyx picked an axe identical to his own, the main difference was red, yellow and green piping going from the plastic barrel to the FullBottle slots.

Rotating the axe, Onyx frowned at the writing on the handle, "Kamen Rider Noir?"

"Well you could keep calling yourself Onyx now could you?" queried Tachibana, "It was embarrassing, for all of us."

Onyx frowned, "I like it."

" _Euax_! It also allows you to use any FullBottle now, instead of only the Onyx FullBottle," continued Tachibana, "I've also included two more FullBottles for you to use, as well a few Chronicle Gashats for your heavies."

Reaching into the case, Onyx drew two FullBottles, one brown and the other pink.

" _Vale_ , Ito," spoke Tachibana, turning around and re-entering the portal, Elena following him.

Onyx started slightly, no one had called him his true name since before he'd joined Foundation X, he'd been so naive back then.

"Pretentious bastard," muttered Onyx, "Always spouting Latin to sound smarter."

* * *

 _Shinjuku City, Tokyo_

Hansei, in CrystalPython Form, slowly lowered Hase's unconscious body to the ground, propping him up against the wall, allowing himself to get his breath back.

From the moment he'd got away from the temple, they'd been plague by what he could only call zombies. They had normal human bodies with strange orange chicken heads, shambling around.

"Get away from him, X-Rider!" called a manic voice, Hansei turning to see another rider, a green and pink belt on his waist, his suit black and white, themed after a zombie as well.

"I'm not an X-Rider," retorted Hansei, "I'm sick of people think I am."

"You can't trick me, Onyx," hissed Genm, stalking towards Hansei, "A new suit won't fool me!"

Hansei sighed, "This is getting real old."

Before Hansei could react, Genm charged at him, swinging his fist, the Bugvisor Zwei strapped to it.

Stumbling back, Hansei clutched his shoulder, summoning his Sonic Arrow as he straightened up. Pulling back the handle, Hansei built up the charge and released it at Genm, hitting him square in the chest.

"Not like this!" cried Genm as his body dissolved into pixels and vanished.

Hansei backed away, the Sonic Arrow dropping from his hand, he'd just killed someone.

"I tricked you!" yelled Genm as he appeared out of a purple warp pipe, tackling Hansei.

Hitting the ground, Hansei kicked Genm off him, looking down in shock as his suit vanished, leaving him defenceless.

"Looking for these?" asked Genm, holding up his hand to show Yamato's Crystal and Python FullBottles.

"How?" grunted Yamato as he used the wall to push himself up.

"Simple, I am the Game Master," replied Genm, shutting his Driver and pulling out his Gashats, "Now you're not Onyx."

"Really, what tipped you off?" snarked Yamato, "Was it the part where I said I wasn't an X-Rider?"

"Hmm, you aren't an X-Rider are you?" mused Kuroto, resting his chin on his hand as Yamato sighed, "Then how did you end up here?"

"We came through the portal system, from one world to the next," replied Yamato, "Foundation X wants to kill us."

"Let me guess, that explosion this morning was you two?"

"Foundation X trying to blow us up," answered Yamato, "They blew up both the portals out of here."

Kuroto sighed, "That is unfortunate, but I have a plan that will benefit us both."

* * *

 _Cyber Rescue_

Kuroto sat in his desk chair, slowly spinning in his seat as he computer beeped.

"You! What you want?" barked Onyx as he appeared on the screen.

Smiling and turning to face the screen, Kuroto spoke, "I believe I have something you want."

Onyx frowned, "We've had this conversion before, last time the Foundation had business here, we are not in need of a scientist with a god complex as dangerous as yours."

"I am the Game Master," sneered Kuroto, before smiling again, "And actually I had some thing different.

Wheeling to one side, Onyx's eyes widened at the sight of Yamato and Hase, gagged and tied up back-to-back, the latter still unconscious.

"Now you have my interest," spoke Onyx, "Name your price."

"The Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat that Foundation X took from my father when they killed him last year," answered Kuroto, "The Tsukuba Center, one hour."

Spinning around in his chair, Kuroto shut off the computer, "Exactly as planned."

"Good, I starting to get sore," murmured Yamato as he spat his gag out and allowed the ropes around him and Hase go loose.

"My neck," moaned Hase, rubbing it as he stood up, "Are you sure this going to work?"

Kuroto sighed, "Why does everyone keep forgetting that I'm the Game Ma-"

"Master," finished Hase, "We know, you keep mentioning it every other sentence."

Kuroto frowned, "Anyway, I finished the copies of your Drivers, but I did find some interesting files on the Alpha Driver."

"I'm going to get some food," spoke Hase, turning and leaving.

Kuroto raised an eyebrow before speaking, "These files are extraordinary, whoever created these blueprints is an utter genius, the merging of physics and biology is incred-"

"Why are you so different?" questioned Yamato, interrupting Kuroto, "I had ARI, my AI, search her database, she had a file on you, it described you as an utter raving madman, but that's not who I see in front of me, why?"

"Two years, two years since my father father caused the end of the world, turned everyone into Bugster," explained Kuroto, "And then when I had my father dead to rights, Foundation X showed up, killed him, took his Gashat and left."

Kuroto sighed and glanced over at a red leather jacket hung over chair, a layer of dust covering it.

"That's why I'm different."

"Well I'm not going to complain, but I know terrible being alone can be," smiled Yamato, turning to leave, "What to get some food before we head out?"

"I'm a bugster, I don't need to eat," replied Kuroto, Yamato nodding and walking out the door.

Standing, Kuroto shrugged off his battered suit jacket, allowing it to drop to the floor and approached Kiriya's jacket, untouched since the day he'd been turned into a mindless Bugster.

Shaking the jacket out, Kuroto pulled it on over his white t-shirt, "I will be a hero in your stead."

Turning, Kuroto grabbed the gold Dual Gashat from his computer and hurried after Yamato, "Wait up!"

* * *

 _Tsukuba Center, One hour later…_

Onyx strode down the stairs of the square, flanked by his soldiers, a small case in one hand.

"You came," smiled Kuroto, dressed in his suit jacket, holding a case himself, Yamato and Hase gagged and bound on the ground behind him, both staying perfectly still.

"I'm a man of my word," replied Onyx, holding out the small case to Kuroto, "I have what you asked for."

Dropping his large case down in front of Onyx, Kuroto grabbed the smaller case, tearing it open and pulling out the Master Gashat, tossing the case aside.

Laughing, Kuroto strapped the Bugvisor Zwei to his waist, inserting the Master Gashat. Suddenly, Kuroto began to convulse, black pixels glitching all over his body as he collapsed to his knees.

"I gave you the Master Gashat, we never agreed I wouldn't have a virus inserted into it," spoke Onyx, leaning down and opening the second case, revealing the Alpha and Sengoku Drivers, FullBottles and Lockseeds next to them.

[CRYSTALPYTHON!]

[MATSUBOKKURI ARMS!]

Looking up, Onyx raised his eyebrows at sight of Hansei and Kurokage stood at either side of Kuroto, each holding their respective weapons, the PythonWhip and the Kagematsu.

"I should have known you be working together," sighed Onyx, drawing his Transteam Breaker, inserting his Onyx FullBottle as well as another brown bottle.

[ONYX!] [WEB!]

Raising his axe, Onyx brought it crashing down, cracking the pavement. A frame appeared in front of Onyx, creating both halves of his suit.

[BOTTLE FUSION!] [ONYXWEB!]

Holding his Transteam Breaker up, the suit encased Onyx, transforming him into Kamen Rider Noir. His suit was nearly identical to his Onyx Form, but the arms and collar were brown, the eyes of the suit a lighter brown and patterned like a spider's web.

"You protect Kuroto, I'll take Onyx," spoke Hansei, cracking his whip, spying a pink FullBottle in Noir's holster.

"Got it," replied Kurokage, pulling the Master Gashat out of Kuroto's Bugvisor Zwei.

Kuroto collapsed to the ground unconscious, like a puppet with its strings cut.

The three soldiers surrounded Kurokage, all intent on claiming the Master Gashat. All three each drew a Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat of their own, pressing the button.

"HENSHIN!"

A flash of light surrounded the three soldiers, transforming them into Ride-Players, however, a large white X was stenciled on the top of their helmets.

"Looks like I'm going to need a bit more power in my punches," spoke Kurokage, drawing a Lockseed and triggering it.

[KURUMI!]

Slamming the Lockseed in his Sengoku Driver and slicing the knife down in one fluid motion, Kurokage flung his arm out behind him.

[SOIYA! - KURUMI ARMS! MR. KNUCKLEMAN!]

The Kurumi Arms unfolded around Kurokage as he charged at the X-Players, swinging at them with his Kurumi Bombers.

"Neat trick," sneered Noir as he crushed the fake FullBottles in his fist, "Shame it didn't work out."

"Do you ever shut up?" retorted Hansei, lashing out with his whip, only for Noir to catch it with his hand, yanking it out of Hansei's grip.

"You truly are weak, Yamato," grunted Noir, wrapping the whip around Hansei's ankle and pulling, sending him rocketing towards Noir.

Calmly stepping to one side, Noir watched as Hansei face planted into the ground, sparks flying from the points his armour met the stone.

Rolling onto his back, Hansei sighed, "Just need to stall a little longer."

Pushing himself back to his feet, suit smoking, Hansei summoned his Sonic Arrow, inserting a strange looking Lockseed and aiming it at Noir, "A gift from the Game Master."

"Not gonna happen," barked Noir, using the stolen whip to wrench the Sonic Arrow from Hansei's grip.

Grabbing the Sonic Arrow out if the air, Noir aimed at Hansei, pulling back the handle.

Hansei grinned, "Checkmate."

A sudden whine came from the Lockseed inserted in the Sonic Arrow.

"What?" grunted Noir as he tried to drop the weapon, only to find his hands were stuck.

"Like he said," spoke a voice, "A gift from the Game Master, me!"

The Sonic Arrow suddenly exploded, engulfing Noir in flames, sending him backwards, landing on the ground as his transformation failed, the Web and the pink FullBottles skittering across the ground, stopping at Hansei's feet.

Kuroto strode into the plaza, Game Driver strapped to his waist, wearing Kiriya's red leather jacket.

"How?" spluttered Noir, looking over to where the unconscious Kuroto lay, watching as it suddenly glitched and revealed a generic Bugster.

"Neat trick with the Gashat," replied Kuroto, drawing the Gashat Gear Gold from his jacket, "Shame it didn't work out."

"Grade Final!"

[GAME MASTER] [ALL HAIL THE GOD!]

Slotting the Gashat into his Gamer Driver, Kuroto flicked the handle open as a translucent golden rectangle appearing in front of him, before sweeping over him.

[GACHAN!] [ALL RISE!] [MY WORD IS LAW! - GAME MASTER!]

A wave of pixels radiated out from Kuroto, the light fading to reveal a new rider form, similar to one of Para-DX's Lv. 50 forms. The undersuit was identical to Kuroto's Lv. 0 form, the stripes coloured gold.

The cauldrons were shaped like golden dice, dots coloured white. His helmet was near identical to his Lv. 0 form, the black sections coloured gold and the purple changed to black.

"I am Kamen Rider Dice!" announced Kuroto.

Noir growled, charging at Dice, who watching calmly, slowly reaching down and twisting the gear of his Gashat right.

[PAUSE!]

Everything froze, leaving just Dice able to move. Walking over to Noir, he lashed out with his DiSaber, sending the black Rider soaring backwards momentarily before freezing again.

"What do you think of the new Gashat?" questioned Dice, glancing towards Noir, "It took me a year, but I manage to replicate the Master Gashat you took from my father, with a few upgrades of course."

"Those affected by the pause are now aware during it, just unable to move," explained Dice, placing a hand on Hansei's shoulder, "I can also unfreeze anyone I want."

Hansei's shoulder slumped slightly as he found he could move again, "That was even worse than you said it would be."

"What a shame," quipped Dice, shrugging as he walked over an unfroze Kurokage.

"Hghnnnn," groaned Kurokage reflexively, "I rather die than have to go through that again."

"Haven't you died before?" questioned Hansei.

"Yeah, like five times by now," answered Kurokage, before bashing his Kurumi Bombers together, "Let's pound these guys."

Hansei glanced over at Kurokage, looking for some kind of reaction, before shrugging his shoulders after not finding one.

Hansei scooped up the fallen FullBottles from the ground and began to shake the Web FullBottle, before inserting it into his Alpha Driver.

[BALLOON!] [WEB!]

"Nice," cheered Hansei, grabbing the handle of his Driver and turning.

A brown armour half appeared to Hansei's left, sliding sideways, overlaying the Python Armour, a metallic brown spider appearing around his left forearm.

[ARE YOU READY?!]

Admiring his new form, Hansei examined the spider on his arm, noticing a trigger built into his palm.

"Woah."

"Indeed," spoke ARI, "This is the WebShot, a device that fires different kinds of webbing, from projectile to ensnaring."

"Neat, like Spiderman," cheered Hansei, "Give me a rope web."

The WebShot beeped, the lights of the eyes flashing. Aiming at one of the X-Players, Hansei shot, a white web hitting him in the chest.

Swinging him around, Hansei wrapped him up in the two other X-Players before webbing the three of them to Noir.

"Let's end this!" called Hansei as Kurokage and Dice took their places either side of him, the former of his left.

"SHOOTING BURST!" yelled Hansei, a barrage of small circular webs flying from the WebShot, detonating on impact with Noir and the X-Players.

[KURUMI AU LAIT!]

"Knuckle Crash!" announced Kurokage as he leapt into the air, walnut projection appearing around his fist as he came crashing down, strike Noir in the chest.

Sliding his Gashat out of his Driver, Dice inserted it into the DiSaber.

[GASHAT! KIMEWAZA!] [GAME MASTER, CRITICAL FINISH!]

Slashing his DiSaber, Noir and the X-Players were engulfed in golden fireball.

[RESTART!]

Hase rejoined Yamato and Kuroto as they all cancelled their transformations.

"The Master Gashat," spoke Hase as he handed it over to Kuroto, who slipped it into his jacket.

"Thank you," replied Kuroto, surprised to hear such genuine words come out of this mouth.

Turning to watch as a flames fades away, the saw the unconscious forms of the X-Players on the ground, their suits having failed.

"Onyx got away," growled Hase, "He's just going to keep attacking us."

"And we'll stop him," responded Yamato, rubbing his cybernetic arm with his organic hand, frowning.

"What's wrong?" questioned Hase.

"Nothing, still haven't got used to it," answered Yamato.

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple Ruins_

"So you're Gashat we fit all this, restore the portals?" asked Yamato, a backpack filled with clothes and food he'd scrounged.

Hase had a tent hanging diagonally over his shoulder, Kagematsu slotted into its holster on his back.

"It'll do more than just that," explained Kuroto, holding the Gashat Gear Gold, "The Master Gashat only reversed the state of the Bugster virus and the Gashats, this will reverse time to the last save point."

Hase nodded, "Like a video game."

Kuroto rolled his eyes, "Everything I make is like a video game.

"Fair point."

"Thanks, Kuroto," spoke Yamato, "For all your help."

"Don't thank me yet, I've still got a couple of things to give you," replied Kuroto, resting a case down on a large piece of rubble and opening it.

Reaching in, Kuroto pulled out a sword, it had a black handle with a silver hilt, a button the side, a gauge on the top and slot for a FullBottle on the other side. A yellow strut came out of the hilt, two curved silver blades either side of it.

"Woah," grinned Yamato as he took it from Kuroto, giving it a few experimental swings, "This is awesome."

"It gets better," added Kuroto, pressing the button on side of hilt, the blades detaching from the hilt, spinning around and attaching to the two side of the end of the strut, forming a bow.

Yamato laughed, "Now this is a weapon I could get used to."

"I found the designs stored in your Driver," explained Kuroto, before taking two silver rectangles with circular gaps out of the case, "Hase, can I have your spear."

"Sure," replied Hase, drawing it and handing it over, watching as Kuroto attached one of the silver boxes at the end and one just below the blade.

Passing it back, Kuroto spoke, "Give it a throw."

Shrugging, Hase did as he was told, launching it like a javelin, watching in surprise as small jets fired out the silver boxes, the weapon turning around and returning to Hase, slowly to allow him to grab it out of the air.

"This is awesome," breathed Hase, swinging the Kagematsu around, finding it still perfectly balanced.

"You two had better be on your way," spoke Kuroto, holding up his Gashat, spinning the entire dial around twice.

[RESET!]

The three watched as the rubble around them leapt into the sky, reassembling the temple before them. Looking around him, Kuroto smiled as the street was suddenly filled by people going about their day, entirely unaware of the apocalypse that had just been undone.

"Thank you," spoke Yamato, holding out his hand.

"No, thank you," replied Kuroto, taking Yamato's hand, shaking, "Without you, the world would still be a living hell."

"Stop messing it about," sighed Hase, "The sooner we set off the the soon we get home."

"The mean the sooner you get to see Jonouchi again," retorted Yamato, turning to throw open the temple doors.

"Same difference," muttered Hase as he and Yamato entered the main hall.

"Goodbye," stated Yamato, waving at Kuroto, who watched as they crossed the main hall, entering one of the side rooms containing a portal.

Losing sight of Yamato and Hase, Kuroto reached up to touch his face. He was smiling, a genuine one, like the ones he faked before he'd revealed his true colours to CR, but he wasn't faking it now.

"I am still the Game Master!" announced Kuroto, his smile turning to a manic grin, assuring himself he was still a god, even if he was a benevolent one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 07: Count The Medals!**

* * *

 _Marketplace, Sekai no Greeed_

"I'm not sure we're fitting in," commented Hase, looking around him at the medieval garments everyone else was wearing, then glancing down at his leather jacket.

"It'll be fine," replied Yamato, smiling, "We won't be staying around long enough for it to cause a problem."

"If you think so," muttered Hase.

"This place is awesome," grinned Yamato as he and Hase walked past stalls laden with things to buy, people milling all around them.

"You like history?" questioned Hase as he and Yamato stopped at a large cart with stools lining the edge of a bar, a steaming pot behind the counter, a middle-aged man stood with it.

"Two bowls please," stated Yamato as the two of them dropped down onto the stools, shedding their backpacks, "When I was in hospital I used to listen to tapes all day long, most of them were either music or about feudal history, it's a dream come true to be in Feudal Japan."

"The year is 2041 in this world," spoke ARI, speaking to Yamato through his implants and Hase with a small earpiece Kuroto had wired for them, "It seems that in this world technological progress slowed almost to a halt a thousand years ago."

Two bowls filled with steaming rice and vegetable were placed down in front of them, the two began to tuck in.

"Payment first, then you can eat," stated the man, holding out his hand.

"How much?" questioned Yamato.

"Twelve cells," replied the man, Yamato sliding out of his seat and opening his backpack.

"ARI, mind doing the honours?" asked Yamato, holding his hand flat next to where his Alpha Driver rested in his bag.

"Certainly," replied ARI as a pipe protruded from the Driver, depositing silver coins in Yamato's palm, each one had an X stenciled on both sides.

"Thanks, ARI," muttered Yamato as he slid back onto his stool, handing the coins over.

The vendor grunted and turned away, Yamato digging in while Hase slowly picked at his food.

Yamato stopped eating, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," responded Hase, distracted.

"It's that you can't taste anything, isn't it?" queried Yamato, continuing to eat his food.

Hase frowned, "How did you-"

"Last night, I cooked dinner at the camp, last time I cooked was helping my mother before my accident," explained Yamato, "Needless to say that food last night was disgusting and you didn't even react."

"Busted," grunted Hase, continuing to slowly munch at his bowl of rice.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," assured Yamato, "I'm not ashamed to admit that my cybernetics ache all the time, they feel wrong."

"There they are!" came a shout.

Yamato sighed, "Really? Can't I have one meal in peace?"

The two rider slowly spun on their stools, fully expecting to see Foundation X goons only to find they'd been surrounded by some of the locals, all dressed in the same uniform, the one who had spoken clearly the leader.

"What seems to be the problem?" asked Yamato with an easy grin.

"Do not attempt to fool me, outsider," retorted the leader.

"I told you it was a bad idea to wear our normal clothes," muttered Hase.

"I realise that now," hissed Yamato.

"Surrender any blasphemous devices and come quietly," ordered the leader.

"I think they mean our Drivers," whispered Yamato, glancing down at his bag.

"Should we?" questioned Hase, "Hand them over I mean?"

"Not a chance," replied Yamato, "We need to give them the slip and get to the portal."

"Enough whispering," snapped the leader, "Detain them!"

Stepping forward, each one of the soldiers, barring the leader, pulled out a Cell Medal, the same as the ones Yamato had paid with.

Reaching out to hold the Cell Medal over their opposite arms, a coin slot appeared, fitting seamlessly with their skin.

"HENSHIN!" called the soldiers as they dropped their Cell Medals into their slots, silver energy beginning to surround them.

In a flash of light the soldiers transformed into a suit similar to OOO's TaToBa Combo, however the red, yellow and green armour sections were silver, the symbol in the chest the stylised X found on the back of every Cell Medal, instead of an OOO Driver on their waist was a silver belt with an OOO symbol at the middle.

"Not good," muttered Yamato, before he and Hase exploded into motion.

Grabbing his Alpha Driver from his bag, Yamato ducked under a swing from one of the Cell Troopers, drawing two FullBottles.

"Let's try something new!"

[BALLOON!] [WEB!] [BEST MATCH!]

Slamming his FullBottles into his Driver, Yamato grabbed the handle and began to turn. The transformation frame appeared around Yamato, the Web half forming behind him, while a new pink half was created in front of him.

"HENSHIN!"

[ARE YOU READY?!] [KUMO NO INFLATING!] [BALLOONWEB!] [YEAH!]

The two armour halves snapped closed, encasing Yamato entirely. The pink half of new Best Match form was near identical to the Crystal half, the only differences was a larger pauldron and the eye, which was shaped like like a balloon.

"This feels awesome!" grinned Hansei, webbing up the closed Cell Trooper and kicking him into one of his comrades, webbing them both to bar of the food cart.

Before he could react, one of the Troopers charged at Hansei, kicking him square in the chest, only for the blow to bounce off.

"Woah!" murmured Hansei, "What happened?"

"This is the Balloon FullBottles power, it allows you to inflate your body like a balloon," explained ARI.

"Let's give it a try," spoke Hansei, inflating the shoulder of his Balloon side, grinned under his helmet as he rose into the air.

"KumoCrash!" called Hansei as he shot a web at the ground in the center of the Troopers, reeling himself in as his shoulder deflated and brown energy gathered around his foot.

Landing on the ground, a shockwave emanated out from the point of contact of his foot, sending the surrounding Troopers flying. They landed all around, some smashing into stalls while others landed directly on the ground.

[DONGURI ARMS! NEVER GIVE UP!]

Kurokage landed next to Hansei, spinning his hammer around and smashing a charging Trooper in the helmet, shattering it.

"They just keep getting up," grunted Kurokage as he batted away a Trooper's punch, Hansei following up with a kick to the chest.

"We just need to keep fighting long enough for an opening we can use to escape," replied Hansei, inflating his chest to endure a kick from another Trooper.

"ENOUGH!" barked the leader, drawing an OOO Driver, "I, Granzel, will defeat you, by the King's power!"

Slamming the Driver onto his waist, Granzel drew three medals, green, gold and red, before slotting them into his Driver. Reaching to his waist, Granzel grabbed the scanner and ran it over the OOO Driver.

"HENSHIN!"

[KUWAGATA!] [KAME!] [CONDOR!]

Green, gold and red medal holograms span around Granzel as a larger medal appeared in front of him, showing the images of the three animals. The medal sank into Granzel's chest, transforming him into a version of Kamen Rider OOO, with the Kuwagata head, Kame chest and arms, and the Condor legs.

[GATAKADOL!]

"Masked General Granzel!" called the rider, before charging at Hansei and Kurokage.

"I can handle this," grinned Kurokage, swinging his hammer at Granzel as he approached.

Granzel raised his forearms, forming a turtle-patterned shield with his gauntlets, a shockwave blasting Kurokage backwards as his hammer impacted.

"How's that working out for you?" questioned Hansei to where Hase was laid on his back, groaning, his suit gone.

"Jerk," grunted Hase in reply.

Ignoring him, Hansei ducked a swing from Granzel, webbing his foot, pulling it out from under him.

Stumbling, Granzel used the razors on his other leg to cut the web. Spinning out of Hansei's immediate reach, Granzel fired electricity from the horns of his helmet.

Shielding himself from the sparks, Hansei reflectively inflated his chest, expecting an attack while he was distracted.

Granzel's leg grazed across Hansei's chest, the razor edges causing his suit to deflate, issuing a whining sound at it did.

[SCANNING CHARGE!]

Three hologram circles appeared between Granzel and Hansei, coloured green, gold and red.

Jumping into the air, the circles raised at one end to follow Granzel. With a yell, the Rider rocketed towards Hansei, traveling through each of the circles.

Red energy gathered around Granzel's feet as he collided with Hansei, sending him spinning backwards.

"It's over," stated Granzel, watching as Yamato's transformation failed, his FullBottles falling out of his Driver, skittering away.

Struggling, Yamato managed to push himself to his knees. Reaching into his jacket, Yamato drew his Crystal and Python FullBottles, preparing to transform again.

Dashing forward, Granzel lashed out with his foot, the razor grating against the metal of Yamato's hand, sending the FullBottles flying from it.

"No!" called Yamato, launching himself forward, only to be caught by two of the Cell Troopers.

Kicking and punching, Yamato tried to break loose as he watched more Troopers dragging Hase away. Just as he thought he had an opening three more Cell Troopers descended upon him, restraining him with ease.

"You bastard!" spat Yamato as Granzel collected all four of his FullBottles.

"I'm sure the King will be very interested in these," commented Granzel.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," spoke a synthesized voice.

Looking up, Yamato's eyes widened at the sight of another rider stood on a roof, however this one looked like it was the cutting-edge of technology, a far cry from its feudal surroundings.

A silver and dark green chest armour, with a red ring around a green and white node, rested over a black undersuit. Additional red and silver armour, with the same nodes, covered the rider's forearms, thighs and lower legs.

"Kamen Rider Birth!" sneered Granzel, turning to face the new rider.

Birth leapt off the roof, drawing a black gun, attaching a clip filled with Cell Medals to the bottom as they fell.

Raising the Buster, Birth fired three shots, one hitting Granzel in the chest, while the others hit two of the Cell Troopers restraining Yamato.

Using the opening, Yamato grabbed the wrist of one the remaining Troopers, squeezing tight and he pried their hand loose, lashing out with a kick to another's shin.

With a yell, Yamato broke free, quickly downing the last of his captors. Turning to watch Birth, Yamato couldn't help but be impressed, whoever was in the suit was good, deflecting or dodging any attacks and returning devastating ones of their own.

Unleashing shot after shot on Granzel, Birth drew two more Cell Medals, inserting them into their Driver, turning a handle until a popping noise sounded.

[CELL BURST!]

Raising their Birth Buster at Granzel, the Rider channeled the energy into the weapon, firing. A red ball of energy rocketed at Granzel, sending him flying, his suit failing as he hit the ground.

Walking over to where Granzel he been standing, Birth grabbed something from the ground, quickly stowing it away.

"This way!" instructed Birth, setting off in the opposite direction to the way the Troopers had taken Hase.

"No, they took my friend, I have to go after them," stated Yamato, turning to go after Hase when Birth's hand closed around his wrist.

Pulling with all his might, Yamato quickly found he couldn't get loose, or move a millimeter, even using all of his enhanced strength. Either the suit was incredibly powerful or the user was superhumanly strong, even stronger than he was.

"They're taking him to the castle, I know a better way in, an easier way," urged Birth.

Yamato sighed, he had no choice.

Letting himself go loose, Yamato nodded, Birth releasing him.

Walking over to the food cart, Yamato grabbed both his and Hase's belongings, turning to face Birth.

"Lead the way."

* * *

 _Throne Room, Imperial Castle_

"My lord, we have found one of the people Foundation X warned us about," explained Granzel as he knelt before the throne.

"How interesting," spoke a figure, in a white version of the TaToBa Combo with purple eyes, "The part monster one, the one they want for experiments, your aura is exquisite."

"Creepy," murmured Hase under a breath from where he stood, hands and feet chained together.

"Do not disrespect the King!" spat Granzel.

"He not my king," sneered Hase, standing up straighter, refusing to bow.

The king laughed, "I like you, having sheep who blindly follow you gets boring after a while."

"Now, Granzel," continued the king as he stood, walking down the stairs and circling his servant, "How long have you been my General now?"

"Nearly three hundred years," replied Granzel, desperately trying to stay calm.

"And as of late I find you, lacking," explained the king, "You may have brought the hybrid but I can sense you have lost one of the Medals I entrusted to you, that is a mistake I cannot abide."

"My lord, I have found a power that makes the Medals pale in comparison," urged Granzel, holding out three FullBottles, purple, gold and brown, "The other outsider had them."

Taking the FullBottles from Granzel, the king examined them, "Gara!"

A man with a cruel face glided into the room, long robe obscuring his feet, "You called, my lord?"

"That device we took from another of these outsiders, do you still have it?" questioned the king, sitting back down on his throne.

"Yes, my lord," replied Gara, "I have been designing a device to use its power since we retrieved it a few months ago."

"Only a few months? Here was me thinking it had been years, time is a strange thing to a god," spoke the king, "Nevermind, Granzel has managed at procure more of these devices, perhaps they will assist in your research."

"With them I should be able to accelerate the progress of the device to harness their power, King Gott," responded Gara, bowing his head slightly.

"Excellent," drawled Gott, handing the FullBottles to a servant, who rushed over to Gara, presenting them.

"I will get started," nodded Gara, taking the FullBottles and leaving again.

"It seems you haven't failed as badly as it first appeared," spoke Gott, looking down at Granzel as he raised his hand, "Be warned, I don't give out many second chances."

Raising his hand, a purple medal materialised above his palm, which Gott grabbed and tossed to Granzel, who scrambled to catch the deliberately short throw.

"Thank you, my lord," spoke Granzel, bowing again.

"Just don't fail me again."

* * *

Yamato sighed, continuing to follow after the still transformed Birth, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the castle looming ever closer.

"The scan you requested is complete," spoke ARI in Yamato's ear, "The rider originates from your world, the system they're using is a prototype developed by the Kougami Foundation."

"In here," muttered Birth, opening a hatch in a roof and beckoning Yamato inside.

Landing in a crouch, Yamato turning in time to see Birth drop down, suit vanishing as she did. The woman straightened up, sweeping her hair out of her face and holding her hand out to Yamato, "Hina Izumi, and you are?"

Yamato bowed his head slightly and shook Hina's outstretched hand, "Yamato Takahashi."

"Yamato Takahashi?" queried Hina, before dashing over to a table, digging through the clutter of fabric, needles and other tools, "Shiro!"

Yamato's eyebrow shot up, "How did you-"

"Here," stated Hina as she turned to face Yamato, holding up a journal.

"My journal," breathed Yamato as he accepted it from Hina, flicking through the yellowed pages, "My mother made me this after my accident, filled it with all my art to remind me what I was working towards."

"I had her get rid of it after it became clear I wasn't getting the sensation back in my arm," spoke Yamato, "How is it here?"

"I found it," explained Hina, "A year ago, something happened, I was with a friend of mine, the Driver belongs to him actually, then next thing I was here in another world, the Driver came with me somehow as well."

"After a while I started to notice that some shops were selling things that definitely didn't belong in this world," informed Hina, "Phones, clothing, weapons, even a vending machine."

"My journal?" prompted Yamato, looking around the room, finding it filled with the things Hina had described as well as mannequins with half finished clothing on them.

"I found it on a stall a couple of months ago, didn't think much of it until I started flicking through it," explained Hina, walking over to a stove, "The art in it is really good, like really good."

"Haven't really tried drawing since I got my cybernetics," replied Yamato.

"I understand, you're afraid you've forgotten how to do it," spoke Hina as she poured boiling water onto tea leaves in two cups, "I'd be the same if couldn't design my clothes."

"So you were doing that before you ended up here?" questioned Yamato, accepting the offered cup of tea.

"I was a fashion designer back home," responded Hina, "You?"

"Disabled," spoke Yamato in a tight voice, "I'm from the same world as you, except I came from 1993."

Hina frowned, "How?"

"Time when you travel from world to world tends to go a bit wonky," answered Yamato, "A group called Foundation X tried to make me one their soldiers, I fought back, now I'm trying to get home."

"Foundation X," murmured Hina, "There's a name I haven't heard in awhile."

"Had dealings with them in the past?" asked Yamato, sipping his tea.

"A few years back," answered Hina, looking distracted for a second, "So, your friend, we need to rescue him."

"Yes," nodded Yamato, finishing if his tea, "You said you had an easier way in."

"I do, the service entrance," explained Hina, "After I arrived here I started making and selling clothes, the King noticed me and took me on as his personal tailor."

"King?" questioned Yamato.

"The original OOO, in my, I mean, our world he died when he attempted to use all the Core Medals at once," continued Hina, "Here he succeeded, he's ruled for nearly nine hundred years, spreading his Empire from its beginning in Germany to encompass all of Asia, parts of Africa and a little bit of Europe, he moved his seat of power to here after he lost his original one sixty years ago."

"In short, not a nice guy," sighed Yamato, "After we get in we need to find Hase and my FullBottles, if they figure out how to use such advanced tech-"

"Everywhere would be the Empire," finished Hina, "I nearly lost my Driver a few months ago, only just escaped with it and my identity safe."

"I won't be much good," muttered Yamato, before sighing, "I can't transform without my FullBottles."

"Would this help?" asked Hina as she held out the Balloon FullBottle.

"How?" spluttered Yamato as he took the FullBottle.

"Granzel dropped it and a Core Medal when I knocked him out of transformation," explained Hina, showing Yamato the Kuwagata Medal that Granzel had been using.

"This is brilliant," grinned Yamato, "I won't be as strong but I can manage with just one."

"Yamato, there is an object stored in the Alpha Driver labelled 'For Emergencies', would you like me to materialise it?" questioned ARI out loud.

"Why not, I'm sure this qualifies," spoke Yamato, before seeing Hina's confused expression, "ARI'S my AI, Foundation X integrated her into my cybernetics, before I escaped that is."

"Like a less annoying Ankh then," replied Hina instinctively, before her face fell, just for a second she'd forgotten Ankh was gone.

A pipe extended from the Alpha Driver, depositing a green FullBottle in Yamato's hand.

Turning it over, Yamato ran his thumb over the turtle shell pattern.

"This is the Shell FullBottle," informed ARI, "There is a warning attached, prolonged usage is exhausting, I would recommend caution."

Yamato grinned, holding up the Balloon and Shell FullBottles, "I'll take that as ' _have fun storming the castle_.'"


	8. Chapter 8

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 08: One, Two and Three!**

* * *

 _Service Entrance, Imperial Castle_

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Yamato as he pulled the cloth hood further over his head, a coarse woollen top over his modern clothes, his dark jeans blending in.

"You'll be fine, you look like a peasant," assured Hina, walking alongside Yamato as they approached the entrance, "No-one will even look at you twice."

"Morning, Hina," greeted one of the guards, glancing at Yamato for a moment, "What's with the peasant?"

"I needed a couple of extra hands to carry things," assured Hina, tapping the box in Yamato's arms.

"Sure, but I wouldn't recommend disturbing the king today," warned the guard, "He's been strangely focused on a new project."

"Don't worry," smiled Hina, "It's only a delivery, we'll be in and out of his quarters like we were never there."

"Just be careful, apparently Granzel lost one of his Core Medals to the Kamen Rider," explained the guard.

"We will be," nodded Hina, before she and Yamato set off inside the castle.

The two of them picked up the pace, all but running down the corridor as the guard returned to his post.

"In here," whispered Hina, pulling a tapestry away, Yamato rushing in after her.

Ripping the lid of the box clean off, Yamato held it out to Hina, allowing her to take the Birth Driver and Buster from it.

Grabbing his own Driver and his only two FullBottles, strapping the former to his waist, "Let's do this."

Shaking his FullBottles, Yamato slotted them into his Driver while Hina dropped a Cell Medal into the Birth Driver.

[BALLOON!] [SHELL!]

"HENSHIN!"

Turning the handle of the Alpha Driver, Yamato dropped into a fighting stance as the Balloon half materialised to his left while a green armour half appeared to his left, the two joining together.

Next to him, several green and white nodes appeared at the same points in front of Hina as on the Birth armour, the rest of the suit interlocked out from the nodes, before wrapping around Hina, transforming her into Birth.

[ARE YOU READY?!]

[POP!]

Looking down at the new armour half, Hansei examined the green metal, a darker green armor of shell edged with gold on his shoulder and running down his chest.

"This way," urged Birth, setting off down the passageway, her Birth Buster loaded and ready to fire.

"Got it," replied Hansei, flicking his wrist as a green shield appeared in his hand, made of the same material with a shell pattern and a golden edge.

Charging out the other end, bursting through the tapestry, appearing in front of three Cell Troopers.

Launching himself at one of the Troopers, Hansei charged him with his shield, sending him slamming into the wall, knocking him out.

Birth quickly unloaded her Buster into another Trooper, following it up with a kick to the chest. Next to her, Hansei summoned his ArrowSlicer that Kuroto had built for him, in its blade mode.

Bashing the last guard with his shield, disorientating him, Yamato lashed out with his ArrowSlicer, striking the Trooper across the chest twice.

"That was close," sighed Hansei as the last Trooper collapsed into unconsciousness.

"Hide them in here," stated Birth, grabbing one of the soldiers and dragging them behind the tapestry.

"Got it," muttered Yamato, hauling the last two Troopers to join the other.

"Follow me, the cells are this way," muttered Birth, as she set off down the corridor, Hansei only a pace behind.

Turning and twisting their way through the labyrinth of corridors, eventually having to duck into an alcove to avoid the soldier standing guard outside the door to the prison wing.

Hansei switched his ArrowSlicer to bow mode, "I'll take care of him."

Pulling the handle back, Hansei pulled the Shell FullBottle from his Driver and inserted it into the slot in his weapon, before releasing the shot.

A pulse of green energy shot from the tip of the ArrowSlicer, changing into the outline of a turtle hiding in its shell just as it struck the guard, slamming him into the wall, his transformation failing as he slid down the wall, unconscious.

Passing the guard, Hansei entered the prison wing, looking around him. Jogging over to a table in a recreational area, Hansei quickly found Hase's Sengoku Driver, Lockseeds and Kagematsu.

Grabbing everything, Hansei heading into the main area of the prison, checking every cell as he passed.

"Yamato!" called Hase, as he raced to the door of his cell.

"May I recommend usage of the ArrowSlicer in bow mode," spoke ARI.

"Got it, stand back," instructed Hansei, Hase doing as he said as he raised he aimed his ArrowSlicer again.

Firing a single shot at the lock, Hansei let out a little sigh of relief as the door swung open.

"Man, are you a sight for sore eyes," grinned Hase as he stepped through the doorway, clapping Hansei on the shoulder, "Hey, new FullBottle."

"Don't celebrate just yet," replied Hansei, "They've got the rest of my FullBottles."

"I know, it's not good," murmured Hase as Hansei handed him his gear, securing his bandolier of Lockseeds around his torso, slipping the Kagematsu into the sheath on his back and locking his Driver onto his waist.

"Very not good," sighed Hansei.

"The guard is secure, I've stashed him out the way," spoke Birth as she joined them, causing Hase to drop into a fighting stance.

"Woah, woah, she's a friend," assured Yamato, "She's how I got in here, she's from our world as well."

Hase lowered his fists, still wary, "Two of us from the same world is a coincidence, three, that's not."

"I don't know how I got here," spoke Birth, "I just woke up here."

"Sure you did," grunted Hase, before turning to Hansei, "The FullBottles are in Gara's lab."

Birth sighed, "That's off the Throne Room, there's no way we can defeat King Gott, he has the power of a god."

Hansei and Hase looked at each other for a second before grinning.

"Trust me, we've met an actual god," smiled Hase, "This Gott is a small fry by comparison."

"No he isn't, you can feel his power radiating from him," retorted Birth.

"That's wrong," grinned Hase, "He's powerful, I'll give him that, but I could tell from my Inves senses that he isn't the god he pretends to be."

"Then let's go get my FullBottles back."

* * *

 _Throne Room_

"Is it finished?" questioned Gott as he lounged in his throne, Gara standing in front of him, holding a slim box.

"A prototype," replied Gara, bowing, "I am already working on a upgrade capable of harnessing more than one at once."

Taking the box, Gott opening it to reveal a smooth metal gauntlet with a slot for a FullBottle. Laughing, Gott secured it around his wrist, taking the Web FullBottle that was also sat in the box.

The main doors to the Throne Room smashed open, revealing Hansei, Birth and Kurokage, the latter using Matsubokkuri Arms.

"I was hoping you would come," drawled Gott as he slowly pushed himself from his throne, waving the Web FullBottle as he did, "More of these for me to take."

"This is bad," murmured Hansei, watching as Gott inserted the FullBottle into his gauntlet.

Brown energy surrounded Gott as he began to scream in pain, grabbing the Web FullBottle and wrenching it out.

Gott collapsed to his knees, "Gara, what happened?"

"Don't worry, everything's going to plan," spoke Gara smoothly, snapping his fingers, "My plan that is."

Cell Troopers swarmed King Gott, restraining him and lifting him to his feet. The three riders rushed forward, only for a line of Troopers to block their path.

"You have become weak and fat on your success," sneered Gara, "For nearly nine hundred years you have halted the advancements of technology."

"You will hang for this, Gara!" spat Gott, struggling desperately, unable to break free.

"Not likely, you are weak, and for that you will die," sighed Gara, clicking his fingers again, "Long live the king."

"NO!" roared Gott as one of the Troopers reinserted the Web FullBottle.

Brown energy surrounded Gott, giant spider legs bursting out from his back. The Troopers backed away as Gott's suit ripped open, reveal a massive spider body.

"And here I thought you said this would be easy," commented Birth.

"We were wrong," replied Hansei, "We were so wrong."

Strolling over, Gara leant down to pick up the bent remains of the gauntlet, retrieving the Web FullBottle. Tossing the gauntlet aside, Gara held up a handful of Cell Medals before plunging them inside of his body.

"HENSHIN!"

Purple energy crackled around Gara as his body warped and changed, stopping on a dark purple form themed after a dragon.

"I will destroy you, Riders!" snarled Gara, "And then I will become the true King of this Empire!"

"Never!"

[PUUTO!] [KAME!] [CONDOR!] [PUKADOL!]

Granzel came charging into view as he transformed into a purple, gold and red form, the raw power of the Puuto Medal fueling the anger burning within him, fighting his way through the Troopers as quickly as he could.

The three Riders, glancing at one another before charging in after Granzel, Kurokage and Birth opening a path through the Troopers for Hansei.

Gara snapped his fingers again, a terrified servant delivering a box to him. Ripping the lid clean off, Gara grabbed a strange bracelet from it, with six FullBottle slots spaced evenly around its circumference.

Securing the bracelet around his wrist, Gara reached into the box again, holding four FullBottles in his hand as he tossed the box aside. Hansei and Granzel both charged at Gara, only for more Cell Troopers to get in their way, forcing them to fight.

Slowly, Gara loaded the Crystal, Python and Web FullBottles into the bracelet, before holding up the last one. It looked entirely unlike any FullBottle Hansei had seen before, the black sections were a deep red, the cap and main body of the FullBottles glowed a sickly purple.

"What is that?" questioned Hansei as he dodge a blow from a Trooper, countering with a shield bash.

"An impure FullBottle, my files do not state how they have come to be in such a state, but I theorise that something went wrong during the creation process," explained ARI, "Be careful, it corrupts all those who touch it, even just for a moment."

"I'm always careful," retorted Hansei, grinning under his helmet.

"That is a lie, you are already exhausted from the effects of the Shell FullBottle," urged ARI, "You cannot keep fighting in this state."

"I have to, this monster will not stop until he rules everyone with an iron fist," grunted Hansei, forcing himself to keep going, "A Kamen Rider is a warrior of justice, I can't give up now!"

"I'll make you!" hissed Gara, twisting the bracelet moving it so the Python FullBottle was at the top.

Hansei quickly raised his shield as a golden whip of energy snaked towards. The whip traced the edge of the shield, coiling its way around the handle.

Before he could react, Hansei watched as he shield was pulled clean from his grip, spinning away to other side of the Throne Room.

Flicking his wrist, another whip shot from Gara's bracelet, wrapping around Granzel as he charged at him. Swinging his arm, Gara chuckled as Granzel slammed into the wall.

Rotating the bracelet, the impure FullBottle clicked into the top slot, Gara's arm glowing a pale purple. Gara suddenly blurred forward, dashing around and around Granzel before returning to his starting point.

A warped cell materialised around Granzel, trapping him inside as he bang against the bars.

Switching to the Crystal FullBottle, Gara aimed at Hansei as he raised his arms in an attempt to shield himself. A purple blast of energy shot from the bracelet, hitting Hansei square in the chest.

"Yamato!" called Kurokage, pausing his battle with the as Hansei landed on the floor, his suit exploding into shards of light as he rolled to a halt, managing to keep a hold of his ArrowSlicer.

Changing back to the impure FullBottle, Gara strode over to Yamato, hoisting him up by his neck. Gasping, Yamato watched as Gara yanked the Balloon FullBottle from the Alpha Driver.

"Why thank you for the gift," drawled Gara.

"Screw you!" grunted Yamato as he slashed at Gara with his Arrow Slicer.

Gara stumbled backwards, dropping Yamato as he did, "How dare you!"

Aiming his arm at Yamato, Gara flexed his arm.

Nothing happened.

"What?" roared Gara, before looking down to see an empty slot in his bracelet.

"Looking for this?" taunted Yamato, pushing himself to his feet, holding up the impure FullBottle as he did, crimson sparks dancing around his hand.

"No, Yamato, I will corrupt you!" warned ARI, as Gara growled.

"That taught me the true meaning of his world, to be ruled!" exclaimed Gara, "Return it!"

 _Worthless!_

 _You bring shame of this family!_

 _You monster!_

Dropping to his knees, Yamato yelled in pain as his eyes glowed dark red, the hissed words echoing in his ears.

"Yamato!" called ARI, trying to get his attention, with no success.

"You are a pawn of Foundation X!" spat Yamato, his words spoke in a deep voice, "Accept my power, we will defeat them together and you can rule the multiverse!"

"SHIRO!" yelled Hina.

Looking up, Yamato's eyes flickered as the whispers stopped.

Yamato gritted his teeth, "I've suffered far worse than this! This we won't stop me!"

Suddenly, Yamato's eyes turned pure white, the FullBottle glowing brightly.

"Impossible!" spat Gara, charging at Yamato as the light faded, revealing a white FullBottle, the shape of a pencil stenciled onto the plastic front.

Shaking the FullBottles, Yamato blurred forwards, moving at incredible speed as he raced around Gara, drawing with his hand. Skidding to a halt at his original position, Yamato turned to watch as chains appeared around Gara, connecting to the floor, restraining him.

"You can't do this!" yelled Gara, "I'm a god, I have mastered the power of the FullBottles!"

"These FullBottles?" grinned Yamato, as he raised his hand to reveal Gara's gauntlet, holding the remaining four FullBottles.

"No!"

"This ends now," spoke Yamato as he inserted the Canvas and Shell FullBottles into his Alpha Driver.

[CANVAS!] [SHELL!] [BEST MATCH!]

"We're with you!" assured Birth as she and Kurokage joined Yamato, the former on his left and the latter on his right.

"HENSHIN!"

Grabbing the handle, Yamato began to turn it as a frame appeared around him, the Shell armour materialised behind him, while a white armour formed in front of him.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [KO NO TEGOWAI CREATOR!] [CANVASSHELL!] [YEAH!]

The armour halves shut around Yamato, transforming him into Hansei. The new white half had two black edged canvases, one on the chest and one on the right shoulder. On the wrist of the same arm was a large, yellow pencil, with a pink eraser on the end.

Aiming his Pencil Creator at the cell surrounding Granzel, Hansei tapped the eraser end, the lines making up the cell unravelling before vanishing. As soon as he was free, Granzel charged at Gara, laying punch after punch into him with his gauntlets, the chains holding him in place breaking under the sheer force.

"Hina, you take the king spider thing," instructed Hansei as he summoned the Shell Defender, a line of Cell Troopers forming in front of them, "Hase, mind handling the Troopers?"

"It would be my pleasure," replied Kurokage.

"Then, let's go!" called Hansei, as all three of them set off.

Leaping into the air, Birth fired at the ground, the recoil allowing her to sail over the Troopers, firing off a round at the spider form of Gott as she fell. Landing in a roll, Birth sprang back to her feet as she reloaded the Buster, keeping her distance from Gott as she continued to fire at him.

Activating the Pencil Creator, Hansei used it to draw a series of lines, continuing to raise them, making a set of stairs over the Cell Troopers which he quickly ascended, landing next to Granzel.

Stopping in front of the Cell Troopers, Kurokage slowly raised a Lockseed, "I'd been saving this one for a while, but now's a good a time as any to break it out."

[DURIAN!]

Opening the lock, Kurokage slammed the lockseed into his Sengoku Driver as he charged at the Troopers.

[SOIYA! - DURIAN ARMS! MR. DANGEROUS!]

Transforming into Durian Arms, Kurokage quickly drew the Duri Noko, hacking and slashing at the Troopers, the serrated broadswords making short work of them.

[DURIAN AU LAIT!]

Swinging at the air with his swords, energy projections of durian fruits fired from them, raining down on the Troopers, knocking the last of them out of their transformation.

Nearby, Birth dodged one of the King Spider's legs as it attempted to impale her, before being blindsided by another. Charging into battle, Kurokage launched one of the Duri Noko at the spider, getting its attention. Going in for the attack, Kurokage suddenly found himself pinned under the massive weight of the one of the spider's legs.

Looking across, Granzel watched as Birth slowly pushed herself back to her feet while Kurokage grunted in pain as the spider's leg began to crumple the armour on his chest. Breaking away from his fight with Gara while Hansei continued to duel him, Granzel summoned a steel sword as he approached the King Spider.

"You are my king, I failed in my duty to protect you," spoke Granzel, looking up, "I will free you from this curse, even if it means I have to kill you."

Charging forwards, Granzel lashed out with his sword, cutting King Spider's leg clean off, exploding into Cell Medals, freeing Kurokage. Spinning around, Granzel gouged into the King's body, more medals raining down on him.

[SCANNING CHARGE!]

[PUUTO!] [KAME!] [CONDOR!]

Wings of purple energy sprouted from Granzel's shoulders as he shot into the air, red energy gathering around his feet, before he rocketed down towards King Spider.

Smashing into the King Spider, Granzel exploded out the other side, sending Cell Medals flying everywhere. Landing on the floor, sparks flew from the claws of Granzel feet's as he slowed to a halt.

Turning to face the King Spider, Granzel watched as white light issued from the cursed form of his king, before exploding into a mixture of Core and Cell Medals, raining down upon them all.

" _Thank you."_

Looking up, Granzel's eyes widened under his helmet as he watched the translucent spirit of Gott hovered in front of him, his tangible OOO Driver still strapped to his waist.

"My k-king," stuttered Granzel, in shock.

"I do not deserve that title," spoke Gott, "I have become a tyrant, but I can fix that."

Granzel looked up, "No, we will fix it."

"I am glad to have you at my side," replied Gott, before suddenly diving into Granzel, wisps of energy surrounding him.

Raising his hand, Granzel's eyes glowed pale purple as the scattered core medals leapt into the air, surrounding Gara, imprisoning him inside them as they span around him.

"You have been a loyal servant, and a better friend," spoke Gott, "Thank you."

Gott's spirit shot out of Granzel, hovering in the air for a few seconds before entering Gara, his OOO Driver appearing on Gara's waist.

"No, this cannot end!" roared Gara.

"Everything ends, otherwise it has no meaning," stated Gott, "I realise that now."

Gara's eyes glowed as the Core Medals lined up in front of him, using his host's arm, Gott grabbed the O Scanner as ran it over the hovering Medals.

"NOO!"

The Core Medals dove inside Gara as energy surrounded his body, beginning to transform him into stone, slowly moving up his arms and legs until he was frozen in place, statue of his former self, the OOO Driver around his waist dropped to the floor.

Silence reigned as the four Riders each cancelled their transformations, Yamato jogging over to where Hase lay, offering him his hand.

Taking Yamato's hand, Hase pulled himself to his feet before speaking, "I wasn't expecting that."

"I don't think anyone was," muttered Yamato, "What did he do?"

"He used the combined power of the Core Medals to seal both Gara and himself away," spoke Granzel, looking down at his own OOO Driver at his waist, his medals still loaded into it, "Well, nearly all the Core Medals."

Walking over to the statue of Gara, Granzel leant down, picking up Gott's OOO Driver from the floor, before approaching Hina.

"The King could tell a person's desire from their aura, he always said your desire was family more than anything else," explained Granzel, holding the King's Driver out to Hina, "I think that is the kind of desire that deserves to be pursued."

Hina flustered, "I couldn't-"

Taking Hina's hand, Granzel placed the Driver in it, "I have lived a very long life, I know a good person when I see one, even if I haven't been one."

Hina hesitated before taking the Driver, looking down at it, seeing the Taka, Tora and Batta Medals inside of it, "Thank you."

"Use it well," nodded Granzel, before sighing.

"What's next for you?" asked Yamato.

"I'm not sure," answered Granzel honestly, "There is a council the king created to handle civilian matters, but it is small and corrupt."

Yamato approached Granzel, "If you need our help-"

"We will manage," responded Granzel, "Go, Foundation X said you wanted to return to your own world, you deserve to get your desire."

"Thank you," spoke Yamato as Hase and Hina joined him at the door.

"I should be thanking you," replied Granzel, turning to face them, "Without you three, Gara would most likely have become the ultimate ruler of the Empire, so thank you."

Yamato nodded before he, Hina and Hase turned and left the Throne Room, leaving Granzel stood alone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 09: The Hardboiled Detective**

* * *

 _Sekai no Greeed_

"Are you sure we got everything?" asked Yamato as Hase pushed the temple doors open.

"Yep," replied Hina as walked alongside Yamato.

"Did we have to take all that crap?" questioned Hase as they stopped in front of the portal, "I mean, there was a vending machine."

"We couldn't leave anything that could affect this world," responded Yamato, "Besides, it's not like we have to carry it all, I have to say this storage system my Driver has is very useful."

Hase sighed and rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's go."

Stepping forward, Hase vanished into the portal, Yamato moving to follow him while Hina froze in place.

"What's wrong?" queried Yamato, stopping and turning back to Hina.

"Is it safe?" uttered Hina, "Last time I saw a portal like that a friend of mine nearly died, another one did."

"It's fine, it's safe," smiled Yamato, holding out his arm, "Trust me."

Hina nodded, "Let's go."

Linking her arm in Yamato's, the two of them entered the portal.

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple, Sekai no Skull_

Stepping out of the portal, Hina and Yamato stopped in their tracks at the sight of Hase, transformed as Kurokage using Kurumi Arms, fighting a platoon of Kurokage Troopers.

"Where were you guys?" called Kurokage as he ducked under a slash of a Trooper's Kagematsu, before punching the Trooper in the chest, sending him flying into another Trooper.

"Great, a Foundation X ambush," sighed Yamato, attaching his Alpha Driver to his waist, drawing the Crystal and Python FullBottles.

[CRYSTAL!] [PYTHON!] [BEST MATCH!]

Inserting the FullBottles, Yamato grabbed the handle and began to turn as he charged at the Troopers, the two armour halves appeared at either side of him, before closing around Yamato.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTALPYTHON! - SUISHOU NO SLITHERING!] [YAY!]

Drawing the PythonWhip, Hansei wrapped it around a Trooper, throwing them into a pillar.

"You know what they say," stated Hansei as he went back-to-back with Kurokage, "Better late than never."

Hina reached into her jacket, her hand brushing the OOO Driver for a second before moving past it, drawing her Birth Driver.

"HENSHIN!"

[POP!]

Joining the fray, Hina loaded the Birth Buster as he armour materialised around her.

"Is this common?" questioned Birth as she unloaded a round into a Trooper, shattering their Mass Driver.

"More so that I'd like," replied Hansei, using his PythonWhip to yank the Kagematsu from a Trooper's grip, before drawing his ArrowSlicer in blade mode, delivering a slash to the Trooper's torso.

"TAKAHASHI!"

Turning to look, Hansei sighed at the sight of Masato stalking towards them.

"Masato," spoke Hansei, breaking away from the fight, "Or do you prefer Chishio?"

"I have tossed that name aside," replied Masato, an insane grin creeping onto his face as he drew a strange gun, with the same coloured wires as the Transteam Breaker, a large red device secured onto the top, an obvious modification.

Drawing an impure FullBottle, Masato gave it a shake before insert it into a slot at the bottom of the trigger of the Transteam Pistol, before pointing it to the sky and pulling the trigger.

[SCORPION!] [MIST MATCH!]

Black smoke belched from the Transteam Pistol, totally obscuring Masato from view. Suddenly a glowing red figure leapt from the smoke, sparks crackling all around him.

[SCORPION! SC-SC-SCORPION!] [FIRE!]

A black bodysuit covered Masato, dark red armoured boots, gauntlets and kneepads. A red symbol of a scorpion on his chest with a black metal edge, pipes of the same metal coming out of his chest, venting over his shoulders.

Navy and green wires ran around Masato's stomach, down his arms and under a red visor shaped like twin stingers, a large black and navy cone protruding out of his forehead.

"I am not longer Chishio," sneered Masato, "I am BurnSting!"

" _Bursting_?" queried Birth, in English.

Masato growled, "It's BurnSting!"

Charging forward, BurnSting drew a sword, with a similar design to the Transteam Pistol, a pipe valve on the side.

"You will pay!" roared BurnSting, slashing and hacking a path to Hansei with the Steam Blade, not caring about how many of his own Troopers he downed.

"Not good," sighed Hansei, before ducking under a swing from BurnSting, attempting to counter with a kick but his foot was caught and the Steam Blade used to slash his thigh.

Crying out in pain, Hansei dropped to the floor, turning to look back a his leg, blood oozing from a gash in his suit.

"A Kamen Rider doesn't give up," grunted Hansei, desperately trying to push himself to his feet.

"You aren't a Kamen Rider," laughed BurnSting laughed as he crouched down beside Hansei, "You belong to Foundation X!"

Stabbing his Steam Blade down into Hansei's armour, BurnSting watched as it slowly pierced through.

"Yamato!" called Kurokage as he attempted to fight his way through Troopers blocking his path.

[SMOKE BOMB!]

A white cloud of smoke flooded the area, obscuring Hansei and BurnSting from view entirely.

Wading into the fog, both Birth and Kurokage searched for Hansei, but as soon as the smoke cleared, they quickly realised he was gone.

"No!" shouted BurnSting, driving his Steam Blade down into the concrete.

"Where did he go?" mused Kurokage, looking in every possible direction.

"I don't know," muttered Birth.

"When Takahashi shows his face," sneered BurnSting, as he wrenched his Steam Blade from the ground, "I'll be be back for him."

Turning, BurnSting walked away, a portal opening for a few seconds, allowing him to slip through before it snapped shut again.

Sighing, Hase cancelled his transformation, reattaching his Lockseed to his bandolier, "I don't like this, not at all."

"Who did it?" questioned Hina to herself as her suit faded away.

Hase turned to face her, "How do I know it wasn't you?"

"What do you mean?" replied Hina, frowning.

"I mean, you show up when I've been taken, you rescue Yamato, get his trust," retorted Hase, "Then we come here and they're already waiting for us, now Yamato's vanished!"

Before Hina could reply a voice spoke, "A know someone who help with finding mission people."

Turning to look, Hase and Hina watched as a strange man dressed in a baggy Santa costume.

* * *

 _Foundation X Headquarters_

Sighing, Osamu crossed his arms as a portal opened, spitting BurnSting out.

BurnSting straightened up, "Mr. Takahashi-"

"Shut up," spoke Osamu, cutting BurnSting off, "I gave you one job!"

Raising a light blue circular device in his hand, Osuma aimed at it BurnSting, pressing a button.

[RECALL!]

The Scorpion FullBottle leapt from BurnSting's Transteam Pistol, his suit vanishing as he collapsed to his knees.

"Give me a reason I should give this back," sneered Osamu, as he easily caught the FullBottle.

Masato pushed himself back to his feet, "Sir, that FullBottle, it allowed me to beat Hansei, I had him in front of him, at my mercy, but someone interfered, if I had another chance I could kill him in a second."

"You're not going to kill him," retorted Osamu, "The doctor has submitted a proposal, he wants to study him, find out what he did to purify that Canvas FullBottle."

"Personally, I like to see that failure crushed once and for all, but we do have to keep the good doctor happy now don't we?"

Shaking his head, Osamu tossed the FullBottle back to Masato, who caught it desperately.

"One last chance," stated Osamu, "If those idiots make it through that portal they'll be home, and you know what that means."

"Project Honeypot," growled Masato, "I won't fail."

"See that you don't," retorted Osamu, turning and walking away, "Make sure to have the doctor check you over before you head out again, we still don't know what the effects of those impure FullBottles are yet."

Masato watched as Osamu left, looking down at the Scorpion FullBottle, before speaking to himself, "I'm stronger than that."

Pausing at the doorway, Osamu sneered, "Idiot."

Strolling out into the corridor, Osamu tucked the device into his suit jacket, looking across as Onyx joined him.

"Project Honeypot?" questioned Osamu, as they walked down the corridor side-by-side.

"Nearly complete," replied Onyx, "Just a few more issues to iron out."

"Good, the test subject has been given the Scorpion FullBottle," informed Osamu, "He has reached Black Flare, his Hazard Level should raise soon, he will reach Red Flare sooner rather than later."

"How much more itime does Doctor Tachibana need to gather data to refine the Blood FullBottle?" questioned Onyx.

"Not long, not long at all."

* * *

 _Narumi Detective Agency_

Hina and Hase walked up to the door, each refusing to even look at each other, the latter knocking as they waited awkwardly.

The door swung open, the two entered the darkened room, looking around.

"Hello?" spoke Hina.

"Come in, I have an open door policy," grunted a voice, before chuckling.

Glancing back, Hase looked at the door, raising an eyebrow at the broken lock.

"What do you want?" asked a man as he walked through an alcove into the room, dressed in a shirt, trousers and waistcoat, a black fedora hanging from his waist.

"A friend of ours has been taken, Shotaro," answered Hina.

"You speak like you know me," commented Shotaro as he sat on the couch, gesturing for Hase and Hina to sit on the armchair across from him.

"I do," replied Hina as she and Hase sat down, "At least, the you from another world."

"Oh, great, parallel worlds," sighed Shotaro, "I thought I was done after Decade left."

"You've met him as well?" questioned Hina, looking surprised.

"Yeah, pink camera, stupid hair," spoke Shotaro, unclipping his fedora and sitting it on his head, "I know him."

"I don't you can judge anyone's hair when you're wearing that hat," commented Hase.

"Oi!" exclaimed Shotaro, jumping out of his seat, "This hat is vintage."

"Vintage is another word for old!" retorted Hase, copying Shotaro, the two of them staring each other down.

Grabbing Hase's arm, Hina easily yanked him back down into his armchair, "Behave."

"Don't tell me what to do," grunted Hase, sulking.

Taking a deep breath, Shotaro sat back down, that kind of behaviour wasn't hardboiled.

"So this friend of yours, what happened?" questioned Shotaro.

"I'm not really sure," replied Hina honestly, "One second Yamato was there, a cloud of smoke appeared, then he was gone."

Shotaro sighed, "Lead the way, I want to check out where he vanished."

"Sure," nodded Hina, standing as Shotaro did.

Hase sighed, rising to his feet.

Shotaro grabbed his jacket off the hook, pulling it on, "Let's go."

* * *

 ** _Foundation X Temple_**

"So this is where it happened?" questioned Shotaro came to stop outside the temple, Hina and Hase behind him.

"Yep, Foundation X goons attacked us just after we came through the portal," explained Hina.

"Rather convenient," muttered Hase.

Turning to look at Hase, Hina glared at him as he scowled back. Shotaro squatted down, pulling a set of gloves on before examining the various debris from the battle.

"Standard Foundation X gear," spoke Shotaro, sorting through wrecked Sengoku Drivers and the remains of various Lockseeds, "What's this?"

Reaching forward, Shotaro snagged a scrap of white cloth, examining it for a few seconds before giving it a quick sniff.

"It was Shroud," stated Shotaro, drawing a plastic evidence bag, dropping the scrap inside, "Just as I feared."

"Shroud?" questioned Hase, frowning, "Is she part of Foundation X?"

"No, the opposite," replied Shotaro, standing up, "She fights the Museum like me, Foundation X fund them."

"She's an ally?" queried Hina.

"No, not at all," responded Shotaro, "She hired me and Chief to rescue the kid, she got the Chief killed sending us in there.

"Would she hurt Yamato?" questioned Hina.

"She's nasty, but not cruel," replied Shotaro, suddenly wheeling around, "There's someone here."

Masquerade Dopants, five of them, charged in, surrounding the three of them. Hina and Hase both stepped forward, drawing their Drivers.

"I'll handle it," spoke Shotaro, drawing a Lost Driver, strapping it to his waist.

Reaching into his jacket, Shotaro pulled out a Gaia Memory, a stylised S on it.

[SKULL!]

"HENSHIN!"

Slotting the Skull Memory into the Lost Driver, Shotaro grabbed the body of the device and pushed it into a diagonal position.

[SKULL!]

Black particles swirled around Shotaro as black lines like circuitry appear on his face. A black suit materialised around Shotaro, transforming him into Kamen Rider Skull.

"Now, count up your sins!" announced Skull, flicking his hand out as he used the other to place his fedora on the top of his helmet.

Drawing the Skull Magnum, he charged at the first Masquerade, launching a kick to the knee, before shooting him in the chest. Ducking a swing from the second Dopant, Skull punched him in the jaw and followed it up with a headbutt.

As the first two Dopants collapsed to the ground, their bodies fading out of existence, Skull turning to face the remaining three, slotting the Skull Driver into the side of his belt.

[SKULL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!]

Launching into the air with a somersault, black energy gathered around Skull's foot as he rocketed towards the Dopants.

The concrete cracked as Skull's attacked landed, the three Masquerade Dopants sent flying by the impact, shattering into particles before they could hit the floor.

Cancelling his transformation, Shotaro slipped his Driver and Memory into his jacket, "They belonged to the Museum, they must have been sent to check this place out, let's head back to the office."

"Skull?" muttered Hina to herself, frowning as she and Hase followed Shotaro, "That memory was lost when you and Phillip became W."

* * *

 ** _Narumi Detective Agency_**

"Sorry, I don't have much in right now," explained Shotaro as he placed a plate of crackers, nuts and few other thrown together snacks on the table.

"It's fine," assured Hina with a smile, taking a couple of crackers.

Hase reached forward, grabbing a handful of wasabi peas, pouring them into his mouth.

Shotaro waited for a few seconds before frowning at Hase's lack of a reaction, speaking, "I'll just be a minute."

With that, Shotaro grabbed a smaller plate and opened the door to the garage, shutting it behind him.

Picking up the mochi from the plate, Hina stood and walked over to the door, before turning back to Hase, "Wait here."

"Sure," replied Hase, going to pick up a cracker, before sighing and sitting back in his chair.

Slipping inside the door, Hina found herself in the Garage, the RevolGarry parked in it's bay. Following around on the walkway, Hina found Shotaro knelt down at the side of a bed with the plate. In the bed was Phillip, staring blankly into the distance, his hair longer and messier than Hina had ever seen, dressed in a set of nightclothes.

"Come on, kid, you've eat some of this," urged Shotaro, holding it out to the unmoving Phillip.

"He likes mochi," spoke Hina, making Shotaro jump up, spinning around to face her.

"You can't be in here," snapped Shotaro, approaching Hina.

"I know all about Phillip," replied Hina, stepping past Shotaro, crouching down and holding out the mochi to him.

Reaching out, Phillip took the mochi, tearing into it greedily.

"How did you know?" asked Shotaro, joining Hina as she stood up.

"In my world, the two of you used to come to Cous Coussier when you were in town," explained Hina, "Phillip would always order something different every time, to experiment, but he would always have a mochi as well."

"Thanks, you have no idea how hard it has been to get him to eat anything these last six months," sighed Shotaro.

"What happened? Why is he like this?" questioned Hina.

"He's been this way since me and the Chief rescued him from that facility," explained Shotaro, struggling to find the right words, "He was speaking at first, but then the Chief was shot, he gave me his Driver and Memory before he died and then we used _that_ memory."

"Fang," spoke Hina.

"Yeah, after we escaped he was like this when he woke up," added Shotaro, "I haven't been able to use the Double Driver since then either, not that it matters, the thing is burnt out."

"It's like he's in some kind of shock," commented Hina, frowning, "It's very strange."

"Tell me about it," responded Shotaro, the sound of a phone ringing suddenly reaching their ears.

Drawing his Stag Phone, Shotaro flipped it open and put it to his ear, "Yo?"

Listening for a few seconds, Shotaro expression morphed to surprise and then to determination.

"We'll be there," spoke Shotaro, before snapping the Stag Phone shut.

"What is it?" asked Hina.

"Foundation X," responded Shotaro, pocketing his Stag Phone, "They're attacking people to draw your friend out."

"We need to go then," decided Hina, making her way to the door out of the garage, pausing as she reached it, looking back.

"I'll just be gone for a little while," assured Shotaro, pulling Phillip's covers up.

Lingering for a second, Shotaro then joined Hina, the two of them re entering the office, finding Hase is same place he was when they left

"Foundation X," informed Hina as she pulled her jacket on, attaching her Birth Driver to her waist at the same time.

Hase shot up, "Where?"

"Down by Fuuto Tower," explained Shotaro, turning to his rack of hats, his eyes lingering of the Chief's white hat before grabbing another, this one black with a white band.

Leaving the office, the three of them rushed down the stairs and out into the street. Placing his Lost Driver on his waist, Shotaro swung himself onto his SkullBoilder, Hina climbing on behind him.

Next to them, Hase slammed his Sengoku Driver into his waist, before drawing his Sakura Lockseed, transforming it into the Sakura Hurricane.

Hopping onto his bike, Hase revved his bike before shooting off, Shotaro and Hina right behind him.

[MATSUBOKKURI!]

[POP!]

[SKULL!]

"HENSHIN!"

* * *

 ** _Fuuto Tower_**

BurnSting roared with laughter as he continued fire at civilians, deliberately just missing his targets, revelling in their fear.

"This is the most fun I've had in years!" called BurnSting.

"Well, we're here to rain on your parade," retorted Birth as she, Skull and Kurokage came to a halt.

Aiming his Transteam Pistol at the three Riders, BurnSting sighed, "Where is he?"

"He decided you weren't even worth it," bluffed Kurokage, drawing his Kagematsu from his back as the three riders dismounted their bikes.

"You're lying," sneered BurnSting, walking towards Kurokage, before firing.

Managing to swat away the first couple of shots with his Kagematsu, Kurokage was blasted in the chest, sending him soaring backwards, landing on the ground, sparks flying as he came to a halt.

Drawing his Steam Blade, BurnSting switched it to a reverse grip and charged. Swinging at Skull, who ducked, BurnSting brought his Transteam Pistol round to bear, he shot the rider in the head. Birth swung at BurnSting, but before she could make contact fire spewed from his shoulder pipes, enveloping Birth.

Stumbling backwards, Birth allowed the flames to fade before she charged at BurnSting again. Sighing, he flicked a switch of his Transteam Pistol, BurnSting aimed at her.

[RAPID FIRE!]

Releasing a barrage of shots at Birth they tore into her suit, tearing whole sections away, burning the undersuit.

Collapsing to the ground beside a dazed Skull, Birth struggled to get up, her suit charred and burnt, her helmet smashed open, revealing her face. Attaching the Steam Blade to his Transteam Pistol, BurnSting took aim at Birth's head, BurnSting's finger began the pull the trigger.

[READY! GO!] [VOLTECH BREAK!]

A golden hologram of a python suddenly wrapped around BurnSting, squeezing him, forcing him to drop his weapon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 10: The Secrets of Alpha**

* * *

 _Fuuto Tower_

Collapsing to the ground beside a dazed Skull, Birth struggled to get up, her suit charred and burnt, her helmet smashed open, revealing her face. Attaching the Steam Blade to his Transteam Pistol, BurnSting took aim at Birth's head, BurnSting's finger began to pull the trigger.

[READY! GO!] [VOLTECH BREAK!]

A golden hologram of a python suddenly wrapped around BurnSting, squeezing him, forcing him to drop his weapon. The python dissipated, BurnSting dropping to one knee, his suit smoking.

BurnSting roared, "Who dares to-"

A purple motorcycle skidded to a halt, a large silver FullBottle sticking out the back, Hansei in a strange silver and blue form hopping off, the ArrowSlicer in bow mode clutched in one hand.

"I heard you were looking for me?" drawled Hansei, "Sorry, I've had a strange day."

* * *

 _Two Hours Earlier..._

Blinking in the bright light, Yamato slowly sat up, his Alpha Driver still around his waist, finding himself on a camp bed in sparsely decorated bedroom, seemingly converted from an office.

"Where am I?" muttered Yamato as he slid off the bed and onto his feet.

Wincing, Yamato looked down to see a bang around his leg, over the spot BurnSting had stabbed him.

"Somewhere in downtown Fuuto," supplied ARI, "I can't be certain."

"How?" grunted Yamato as he hobbled towards the door, grabbing a crutch resting against the end of the cot.

"I'm not sure, I was disabled until the last few minutes," admitted ARI, "My GPS is being interfered with."

"I don't like this, not at all."

Pushing the door open, Yamato stepped out onto a walkway over a factory floor, which seemed to have been converted into some kind of workshop, different projects scattered around the room, from a red Driver on a table to a half-finished green and black motorcycle on the back wall.

Shuffling down the steps one at a time, Yamato descended into the workshop, looking around him.

"So you're awake," spoke a voice.

Yamato wheeled around, coming face to face with a woman in a trench coat, with long black hair and bandages covering her face, large sunglasses obscuring her eyes.

"Who are you?" questioned Yamato warily.

"You can call me Shroud, my name has no importance now," replied the woman, walking towards Yamato, "I rescued you from that savage."

"My friends?" queried Yamato.

"They're fine, BurnSting left after I took you," informed Shroud.

"Then why didn't you leave me with them?"

Shroud sighed, "I needed to talk to with you."

"About what?" asked Yamato.

"Six months, a man by the name Sento Kiryu came to this world, chasing Foundation X," answered Shroud, "They stole the Alpha Driver from him, a prototype attempt to recreate his Build Driver, as well as a range of FullBottles, six in total."

"We teamed up to defeat Foundation X and retrieve his belongings but they escaped through that portal," explained Shroud, "Sento went after them but he returned a few days later. He didn't say what happened but he told me someone I could trust would be coming through with the Alpha Driver one day."

"He knew about me?" frowned Yamato.

"I'm not sure, he made something for me to give to whoever had the Alpha Drive and left," responded Shroud, "I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"What did he leave?" asked Yamato.

"This," replied Shroud, pulling a strange cube and a silver FullBottle from her jacket.

Inserting the FullBottle into the cube, Shroud tossed it out in front of her, Yamato watching in disbelief as expanded into a purple motorcycle with a large silver FullBottle protruding from the back.

"Woah!" exclaimed Yamato, circling around the bike, examining it closely.

"He called it the Machine Reflector," answered Shroud, walking forward and pressing a button on the handle, the bike suddenly jumping into the air, folding back into a cube.

Catching the cube, Shroud quickly tossed it to Yamato. Turning it over, Yamato grabbed the FullBottle and pulling it out.

"They're yours now," stated Shroud plainly.

Examining the FullBottle, Yamato traced the shape of a wheel on the front of the bottle.

"Why did you help Kiryu?" questioned Yamato as he pocketed the two devices.

Shroud stiffen, her reaction obvious despite the bandages covering her face.

"He reminded me of someone," spoke Shroud, hesitating slightly, "My son, sharp, mind and tongue, but a good heart."

"What's his name?" asked Yamato as he lowered himself into a chair.

"His name was Raito," uttered Shroud.

Yamato started, "I'm sorry, I didn-"

"He isn't dead, he just doesn't-" interrupted Shroud, before pausing, "He was hurt, he lost his memory, he doesn't remember anything."

"That sounds rough," commented Yamato.

"You've seen your fair share of pain," responded Shroud, "I saw your cybernetics when I cleaned your wound."

"I can think of worse," muttered Yamato.

"You can go if you want," stated Shroud, "I brought you here to carry out a promise, you're not my prisoner, go, your friends will be worried."

Yamato nodded, standing up and making a beeline for the door, climbing up a set of stairs, before turning back, "You're afraid, that your son will hate you or something, don't be, you can't live in terror of what you can't control."

"I would do anything to see my mother again."

Pushing the warehouse doors open, Yamato slipped outside, shutting them behind himself. Looking around, Yamato took in his surroundings, a trash strewn alley.

Setting off, a slight limp still troubling him, Yamato suddenly felt like he'd stepped into treacle, his body slowing down until he was locked in place.

"Hello, Yamato."

Yamato lurched forwards, finding himself able to move again. Turning, he frowned at the sight of his own body, frozen in place.

Looking down at his hands, Yamato waved them, nearly transparent with a faint light blue glow around the edge, "What is this?"

"The power of this," spoke Onyx as he blurred in existence, stopping in front of Yamato, a light blue FullBottle in his hand.

"Onyx, what are you doing?" demanded Yamato.

"The same thing I've been doing since you got that Driver," replied Onyx.

"Trying to kill me?" sneered Yamato, swinging at Onyx, his fist passing harmlessly through him.

Onyx laughed, "Really? Do you think I'm that weak?"

Blurring again, Onyx circled around Yamato, "I let that magican beat me the first time, I let Kuroto Dan defeat me."

"No," growled Yamato, "You're lying!"

"How do you think FullBottles kept landing in your lap?" questioned Onyx, "I made sure I dropped Balloon and Web, I had Shell stored inside the Alpha Driver before you stole it, the Canvas FullBottle didn't end up in King Gott's possession by accident."

"Why?" asked Yamato, "What could you possibly gain from making me stronger?"

"There are only six known people who are capable of using the Build System," answered Onyx, "Sento Kiryu, the two Faust idiots, Masato, myself and lastly, you."

"Why?" repeated Yamato.

"Faust has a system of determine a person's reaction to the Nebula Gas," drawled Onyx, "Called Hazard Level, anyone with a rating of 1.0 will die after contact, 1.1 to 1.9 they are transformed into Smash, 2.0 to 2.9 they resist the transformation, 3.0 and above they are capable of using a Build Driver or a Transteam weapon without any side effects."

"Me?"

"3.5 on the last reading," responded Onyx, "We originally exposed you to the Nebula Gas but you resisted, therefore you were assigned to be a test subject."

"You bastards," growled Yamato.

"Now, now, you wouldn't look a gifthorse in the mouth," stated Onyx, suddenly tossing the FullBottle to Yamato, who caught it automatically.

"It's the Psychic FullBottle," informed Onyx, "It allows the user to see a few moments into the future for brief bursts."

"It's also how we're speaking right now," continued Onyx, "Of course, this kind of control requires a mastery of the FullBottle, something your unfocused mind could never achieve."

"Why are you giving me this?" questioned Yamato.

"It's simple," replied Onyx, "Masato is about to launch another attack to draw you out, he knows he's stronger than you."

"You want me to win," spoke Yamato, "Why?"

"My project will be cancelled if Masato defeats you now," answered Onyx, "My research into the Alpha Driver will be stopped."

"So if I win, you win," sighed Yamato, "You are a bastard."

"Don't worry," grunted Onyx, "I still despise you, I look forward to the the day you are no longer needed, the day I gut you like the pig you are."

"Charming," commented Yamato, blinking to suddenly find everything back to normal, Onyx gone.

Looking down, Yamato examined the Psychic FullBottle before gritting his teeth.

"I have to stop BurnSting," spoke Yamato, expanding the Machine Reflector and swinging onto it, "No matter the cost."

* * *

Shroud sighed, what Yamato had stayed with her, echoing in her head.

Walking over to a workbench, Shroud picked up the dormant Fang Memory in Dino Mode, switching it to Memory Mode.

Working for a few seconds, Shroud detached the Fang Memory from the device, turning it over in her hand. Her mistakes with the Memory, those mistakes that had hurt her son severely, trapped him inside the Gaia Libary.

Dropping the Memory, Shroud picked up a second Memory, the same design but with a small symbol in the corner, denoting it as a T2 Memory.

"I just hope this works, Raito," spoke Shroud.

Attaching the T2 Memory into Fang, Shroud switched it into Dino Mode. Roaring, Fang came to life, jumping from Shroud's hands.

Shroud's bandages crinkled as she allowed herself a small smile.

Reaching down, Shroud picked up a Double Driver.

* * *

 ** _Fuuto Tower_**

Collapsing to the ground beside a dazed Skull, Birth struggled to get up, her suit charred and burnt, her helmet smashed open, revealing her face. Attaching the Steam Blade to his Transteam Pistol, BurnSting took aim at Birth's head, BurnSting's finger began to pull the trigger.

[READY! GO!] [VOLTECH BREAK!]

A golden hologram of a python suddenly wrapped around BurnSting, squeezing him, forcing him to drop his weapon. The python dissipated, BurnSting dropping to one knee, his suit smoking.

BurnSting roared, "Who dares to-"

A purple motorcycle skidded to a halt, a large silver FullBottle sticking out the back, Hansei in a strange silver and blue form swinging off, the ArrowSlicer in bow mode clutched in one hand.

"It's time I put you down, like the rabid dog you are!" sneered Hansei.

The sunlight glinted from Hansei's new form, pipes protruded from the shoulder and boot of the silver half, a heavy crystal ball encasing the hand of the other side.

"Takahashi," growled BurnSting, pushing himself to his feet as he grabbed his Transteam Pistol, aiming at Hina again, finger curling around the trigger.

"Not again!" roared Hansei, switching the ArrowSlicer to blade mode, letting it fly from his grip, knocking the Transteam Pistol from BurnSting's grip.

"Masato, that power is too much for you, I will stop you," spoke Hansei, "With these two hands!"

Charging forward, flames burst from the pipes as Hansei accelerated, raising his Crystal Basher. BurnSting dodged to one side, Hansei sailing past him.

"You'll have to do better than that, Takahashi!" called BurnSting, swinging at Hansei.

The fist impacted with Hansei, sending him flying back, his suit failing as he rolled to a halt.

Hansei blinked.

He was stood again, still transformed in TurboPsychic Form, before charging at BurnSting again.

Dodging to one side BurnSting watched in surprise as Hansei shifted, his fist arcing around, smashing into his helmet.

BurnSting collapsed backwards, disorientated from the blow. Rolling onto his back suddenly, BurnSting grabbed his Transteam Pistol and unloaded two shots at Hansei as he approached.

Hansei blinked, BurnSting was face down on the ground, waiting to spring his trap. Raising his ArrowSlicer, Hansei quickly reflected the two shots back at BurnSting as he rolled over and fired.

"HOW!" roared BurnSting, scrambling to his feet.

"It's a magic trick," retorted Hansei as he and BurnSting continued to trade blows.

Forcing himself up, Hase stumbled towards Hina as her transformation finally gave out, smoke and sparks emitting from the damaged Birth Driver.

Hase knelt down, "Hina, I shouldn't have-"

"That's not important right now," grimaced Hina, "Take Shotaro and run."

"No, you need to, your Driver's bust," replied Hase, grunting in pain as he looked down to his leg, his ankle swelling, he'd bent it back when he landed.

"No," spoke Hina, "I have another, besides, I'm in better shape."

Hase paused, before nodding and pulling himself up, using his Kagematsu to support himself. Hina helped the dazed Shotaro to his feet, draping his arm around Hase's shoulders.

"Go," instructed Hina, Hase nodding as he half-guided, half-dragged Shotaro away.

Turning back, Hina watched as Hansei and BurnSting continued to duke it out, the former only just countering the latter's attacking in time.

Drawing the OOO Driver, Hina hesitated, the only reason Eiji had been able to use it was his lack of desire, and later his non-selfish desire to restore Ankh.

But Hina had desires, to get home, see her friends again, become a famous fashion designer.

"I have to try," muttered Hina, lowering the OOO Driver to her waist before slotting the Taka, Tora and Batta Medals on and tilting it.

"Henshin!" spoke Hina, grabbing the scanner and running it over the Driver.

Hina's eyes turned red, before cycling through yellow and green, eventually returning to normal.

[TAKA!] [TORA!] [BATTA!]

Medal projections spun around Hina, before the Taka, Tora and Batta projections fused into one. Sinking into Hina, a red, yellow and green energy swirled around her.

[TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TATOBA!]

The TaToBa suit materialised around Hina, however it more closely resembled the Super TaToBa suit, but with the regular colour palette.

Examining her suit, Hina marvelled for a few seconds, before bracing herself, "I am Kamen Rider Hoshii!"

Dashing forwards, Hoshii joined Hansei, using her long claws to slash and hack at BurnSting.

* * *

 ** _Narumi Detective Agency_**

Slowly lowering into a crouch by Philip's bedside, Shroud drew out the Double Driver from her jacket. Placing the device on Philip's waist, Shroud inserted the Fang Memory, folding it over.

[FANG!]

White particles surrounded Philip before encasing him, a white and black suit with white fang protruding from the the shoulders, wrists and ankles.

Sitting bolt upright, Fang's suit flickered before bursting into particles again, fading away in seconds.

Philip looked around him, "I'm free."

Swinging his legs out of the bed, Philip pushed himself to his feet, dashing over to a whiteboard, grabbing a pen and starting to write furiously.

"Raito," spoke Shroud as she rose to her full height.

Pausing, Philip turned to face Shroud, a puzzled look on his face.

"Is that my name?" questioned Philip, slowly walking towards Shroud.

Shroud nodded, "It is."

"Who are you?"

Shroud took a deep breath, before reaching for her bandages, slowly unravelling them.

Letting the bandages fall, Shroud raised her head to look at Philip, a black scar like veins running up her neck and her left cheek.

Philip studied Shroud's face, his eyes analysing every little detail, "Mother."

Nodding, Shroud stepped forward, wrapping Philip in her arms, tears running down her face.

"I was so alone," spoke Philip, hugging Shroud back, "The library, I couldn't leave."

"It's okay, you're back now," replied Shroud, "But there is still work to be done."

Breaking away, Philip looked at his mother, "What is it?"

"Hidari is in danger," answered Shroud, "He and another rider are about to be attacked by the Museum. He is not your best match for Double, but I have entrusted his life to you for this long, I think together you can surpass all my expectations."

Philip paused for a second before nodding.

[FANG!]

* * *

 _Downtown Fuuto_

Hase continued to hobble through the streets, supporting Shotaro as he slowly started to come back into clarity.

"What happened?" murmured Shotaro.

"Yamato showed up, new form with some kind of rewind ability," explained Hase, before coming to halt as Masquerade Dopants surrounded them.

"Hand over the detective and we'll let you go free," spoke a Nasca Dopant as he joined the others.

Hase hesitated, he had no reason to protect Shotaro, he could just dump him and leave, at least, that's what he would have done back when first became Kurokage. He had to be better, for Jonouchi.

"You can't have him," retorted Hase, his ankle threatening to give way under him.

Shotaro suddenly gasped, the weight on Hase vanishing as the detective stopped leaning on him. Looking down, Shotaro watched as the Lost Driver on his waist suddenly glowed, before fading to reveal it had transformed into a Double Driver, the Fang Memory sticking out of the right slot.

 _Shotaro, do you have the courage to ride with the devil once again?_

"Philip?" questioned Shotaro, frowning, "You're normal again."

 _I've never been normal, but right now it's time to transform._

"The last time the Fang Memory was used you went into that state," retorted Shotaro, "Besides, you were the one to use it."

 _It's fine, this will work._

"Sure, let's do this," sighed Shotaro, pushing the Fang Memory in.

[FANG!]

Pressing the button on the Skull Memory, Shotaro slotted it into the Double Driver.

[SKULL!]

"HENSHIN!"

[FANG!] [SKULL!]

White and black particles swirled around Shotaro, lines appearing on his face as a suit encased him. The right side was white, identical to the Fang suit, while the left half resembled the Skull suit, but with the more animalistic design of Fang. Additionally, the left half of the helmet was completely different, a black reflection of the Fang half.

"Now, count up your sins!" announced Double as he flicked his wrist.

 _Let's go, Shotaro!_

Charging forward, Double punched the first Masquerade, kicking a second in the chest. Grabbing a fang from the Skull shoulder, Double hacked and slashed his way through the Masquerades, making short work of them.

Drawing the Nasca Blade, the blue Dopant rushed at Double, the two locking their weapons. Swinging his fist, Double slashed Nasca across the chest with his wrist fang.

Stumbling back, Nasca grunted painfully, "You are a thorn in the Museum's side, for that, you must be removed."

Double growled, drawing a second fang, this one from their right shoulder. Swinging their dual fangs, Double knocked the Nasca Blade out of the Dopant's grip.

"It's over," spoke Philip as Double held a fang to Nasca's throat.

"We'll meet again," stated Nasca, turning away, before wings sprouted from his back, soaring into the air.

"Coward."

* * *

 _Fuuto Tower_

Hansei blinked, he was getting tired, the psychic ability draining him faster and faster the more he used it.

Hoshii knocked a shot from BurnSting aside with her claws, falling back, beside Hansei.

"This has to end now," uttered Hansei, "ARI, the device we took from Gara."

"It might work," replied ARI, the Alpha Driver materialised the bracelet in front of Hansei.

"I'll keep BurnSting busy," assured Hoshii, rushing at BurnSting.

Grabbing the FullBrace, Hansei pulled it on his right arm, over the gauntlet of his Turbo half, resting just below the Gear Band. Turning the device, Hansei inserted his six other FullBottles.

Gripping the Vortex Crank, Hansei began to turn it as graph lines appeared, a spiral leading from Hansei to BurnSting at the center.

[READY? GO!] [VORTECH FINISH!] [YEAH!]

The pipes on Hansei's shoulder and leg suddenly belched blue flames as he shot forward, following the spiral as he pressed a button on the side of the FullBrace. Slowly turning, the FullBrace began to speed up until it was a blur, glowly with mutlitcoloured light.

[CRYSTAL!] [PYTHON!] [BALLOON!] [WEB!] [CANVAS!] [SHELL!]

Aiming his glowing fist forward, Hansei continued to race around the spiral, before reaching the center, smashing his fist into BurnSting chest will all his might.

[VORTECH FUSION!]

Hoshii ducked away as the center of the spiral exploded, the force of the blast nearly knocking her off her feet.

Turning to look, Hoshii watched as the fire dispersed, both Hansei and BurnSting collapsing as their suits faded away.

"Yamato!" called Hina, running towards Yamato as she cancelled her transformation.

"I'm fine," grunted Yamato as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Where's BurnSting?" asked Hina.

Looking around, Yamato sighed, "At least now he knows he's not all powerful, let's go."

* * *

 _Narumi Detective Agency_

"Better?" asked Hina, as she finished bandaging Hase's ankle.

"It is," nodded Hase, "But there's something I need to say."

Hase paused.

"I was wrong, you're not one of them," continued Hase, "I'm sorry for how bad I treated you, seeing BurnSting about to shoot you made me realise."

Hina smiled, "It's fine, we were all stressed, with Yamato missing, don't worry about it."

Turning away, Hina made her way over to Shotaro, insisting on checking him over. Strolling over, Yamato taking the seat across from Hase.

"The Psychic FullBottle, its power," uttered Yamato, "You can see the resets as well can't you."

Hase took a deep breath, "I can, I guess it's because of my Inves side."

"So you saw," trailed Yamato.

"BurnSting killing Hina," finished Hase, "It must have taken you what, eight, nine, resets before you got it right."

"Ten," sighed Yamato, "we can't tell Hina."

"No, we can't," replied Hase.

"I've seen to Shotaro," explained Hina as she approached Hase and Yamato, "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm so ready to get home," replied Hase, giving his best smile as he pushed himself to his feet, using his Kagematsu to support himself.

"Seconded," added Yamato, "Home is quite literally the other side of that portal."

"You guys heading out?" queried Shotaro as he strolled over to them.

"Yeah," nodded Hina, "Thank you for all your help, I actually have something for you."

"You don't have to," replied Shotaro as Hina nodded at Yamato, who quickly summoned something from his Driver, handing it over.

"Here," smiled Hina, holding out her hand, opening it to reveal two Gaia Memories, one green and one purple.

"How?" murmured Shotaro, taking the Memories, "These vanished after the Double Driver burnt out."

"I have my ways," grinned Hina, before giving Shotaro a hug.

"Thank you."

"Sent Philip my best," grinned Hina as Yamato and Hase joined her.

"I will," replied Shotaro, "He's pretty busy catching up with his mother."

"That's good," nodded Hina, "Goodbye."

"See ya later."

Turning away, Yamato opened the door, Hina and Hase waving and nodding as they left, Yamato following behind them.

"I think I understand why I kept finding all that stuff in the Greed world," grinned Hina as they descended the stairs, a young woman with a suitcase and a green slipper passing them, "To return them to who they belong to."


	11. Chapter 11

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 11: Home, Sweet, Home?**

* * *

 _Foundation X Temple, Sekai no Skull_

"Is this really it?" uttered Yamato as he stood in front of the portal, looking up at it.

"Absolutely," replied ARI out loud, "I can check again if you'd like."

Yamato smiled, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Home," grinned Hase from where he stood beside Yamato, Hina next to him.

Hina smiled, "Let's go."

Nodding, Yamato stepped forward, through the portal, Hase and Hina following him.

Blinking as everything went dark, Yamato looked around him, they were in the portal room, two inches of water on the floor.

"What the hell?" muttered Hase.

Pushing the door open, the wood crumbling under Yamato's grip, the three of them entered the main hall, the roof in the middle had collapsed, the rain running down the section.

"What happened here?" wondered Yamato as they edged around the collapsed ceiling to the main doors.

"From a rudimentary scan, it appears rather a heated battle took place here," explained ARI, her synthetic voice betraying worry, "But it doesn't look recent."

Pushing the doors open, they stepped out into the driving rain, the wind buffeting them.

"This is so not good," sighed Hina at the sight of ruined buildings, floodlights roving over the street, hovercrafts flying above.

"What's happened?" questioned Hase.

"Whatever it was," replied Yamato, "It wasn't good."

Suddenly, a missile streaked across the night sky, exploding at it struck one of the hovercrafts. Fire lit up the night as the craft crashed down to earth, smashing into the building across from them.

The back of the smoking craft opened up, strange robots streaming out, guns in their metal hands.

Another hovercraft, the one that fired the missile, came to a halt above the street, the cargo door opening as a red and blue figure dropped to the street.

 _TARGET IDENTIFIED: KAMEN RIDER BUILD_

"Build?" murmured Yamato, watching as Build raised the Drill Crusher in gun mode, firing at the Guardians.

Holding the Guardians off, Build looked back, directly at the trio.

"Come with me if you want to live!" yelled Build.

"Can we trust him?" questioned Hina, frowning.

"We have to," replied Yamato, darting forward, Hina and Hase following as the ducked and dived under rubble, dodging shots at they went.

Returning his focus to the Guardians, Build spoke, "I need an extraction, four of us."

The hovercraft shifted slightly, four ropes dropping, ends just a foot from the ground.

"Grab hold," instructed Build as Yamato, Hina and Hase reached him, the three of them doing as they were told.

"Now!"

The hovercraft suddenly lurched, rising higher into the sky as the ropes began to reel the four of them in. Looking down, Yamato watched as the ground got further and further away, the Guardians shrinking to small dots.

"My god," muttered Hina at the sight of the city below, fire had engulfed buildings, hovercraft fighting each other as laser fire lit up the streets.

Reaching the end of the ropes, they found themselves inside the craft, the cargo doors shutting below them. Letting go of the rope, Build pulled the FullBottles from his Driver, his suit fading away.

"Sento Kiryu," spoke Yamato, dropping down, Hina and Hase following his lead.

"You got my message?" replied Sento, glancing back for a second before striding forward to the cockpit, a Guardian sat in the chair, "Take us home."

 _ROGER_

"Why do you have one of those?" questioned Yamato warily.

"I reprogrammed him," answered Sento, in a casual drawl, "I needed someone to pilot this after I stole it."

"Who is this?" asked Hina, looking at Yamato.

"He's the one who built the Alpha Driver, Foundation X stole it and the FullBottles from him," explained ARI, answering for Yamato.

Yamato turned to Sento, "How did you know I'd be coming, how did you know to tell Shroud she could trust me?"

"Did you think you woke up before Foundation X could brainwash you all by yourself?" questioned Sento, as the hovercraft suddenly lurched, turning to the left.

"That was you?"

"You're welcome," uttered Sento, as he detached his Build Driver from his waist, setting in down.

"Why?" muttered Yamato, "Why would you trust me?"

"Because we'd already met," answered Sento, "Not long before Foundation X stole the Alpha Driver you showed up, so I knew I could trust you when I found you as Foundation X's prison."

Before Yamato could ask anymore, the hovercraft came to a stop, Yamato, Hina and Hase looked out the windows, seeing a forest below. Suddenly, a part of the forest floor opened up, the hovercraft lowering itself into the darkness.

Steadying themselves, the hovercraft jolted as it touched down. Sento pushed past the others, hitting a button by the back door, it opened up.

"This way, we can talk further," instructed Sento, before setting off, the lights blinking on as the hanger doors shut themselves.

"Do we?" queried Hase.

"Let's humor him," replied Yamato, "At least for now."

Following after Sento, they examined their surroundings, whatever this place was it looked like until recently it had been abandoned. Stopping, Sento opened a door and stepped inside, leaving it open for the others.

"So, what happened?" asked Yamato as he, Hina and Hase entered.

"Faust got what they wanted," answered Sento as placed his Driver down on workstation, sitting down in front of it, "A war, a war to end all wars. Touto, Hokuto and Seito went to war when I failed to stop Faust from taking Pandora's Box."

"Everything went sideways after that, Banjo vanished from that rooftop, Misora was taken by Faust, Sawa and Soichi are best not to be mentioned," sighed Sento as he began to tweak at his Build Driver, running diagnostics.

"Touto? Hokuto? Seito?" questioned Hina.

"The three regions Japan was split into sixteen years ago by the Skywall," explained Sento, not even looking up.

"Sixteen years ago, what year is it?" asked Yamato, stepping forward.

"2023, so it's been what, thirty years, since Foundation X took you," answered Sento nonchalantly.

"Thirty years," murmured Yamato, his face pale, "My sister?"

Sento paused, struggling to speak.

"Foundation X exposed her to Nebula Gas, she couldn't handle the stress of becoming a Smash," spoke a voice as the door swung open.

"K-Kohei?" stuttered Yamato, recognising the voice as he turned to see a man in his fifties, "She's gone?"

"I'm sorry, Yamato," nodded Kohei, looking down.

"How?"

"It was 2017, Foundation X took her," explained Kohei, "Osamu had her exposed to the Nebula Gas, she transformed into the Heart Smash."

"But after I removed the Smash essence, her body couldn't handle the strain," continued Sento, stopping his work on his Driver, closing it up, "But we can save her, we can save everyone."

"What do you mean?" questioned Hase.

"Foundation X's master portal," uttered Yamato, his eyes widening.

"Excellent!" grinned Sento, holding his hand out, "Alpha Driver?"

Handing the Driver over warily, Yamato spoke, "Why do you want it?"

"I give my Build Driver the once over after every time I use it," replied Sento, going to work on the Alpha Driver, "It's been what, seven, eight months you've been using it?"

"Ten months," answered Yamato, "What did you mean about the portal?"

"He's been building a device we can use to modify one of the portals at the temple to give us access to the main portal," informed Kohei, "We can then set the portal to take us back to stop this war from starting in the first place."

"Wait, this can be right," stated Hina, "There wasn't any Skywall in 2016."

"Or 2013," added Hase.

"The Pandora's Box, what cause the Skywall incident, doesn't tend to follow the rules of time," replied Sento, "In fact, it exists out of phase with the rest of reality."

"My brain hurts," murmured Hase, rubbing his forehead.

"Since you guys are here now, we can put the plan into action," stated Kohei, "You might want to get some food and prepare yourself to move out, follow me."

The three went to follow Kohei when Sento spoke, "I need Yamato to test his Driver."

"Sure," nodded Yamato, urging Hina and Hase to keep going with a reassuring smile.

"How are you?" asked Sento, the second the door shut, "You don't have to keep pretending you're fine."

Yamato looked taken aback for a few seconds before sighing, "When I first escaped I was angry all the time, eventually I figured out how to hold back my emotions the best I can."

Sento nodded, "You feel like if you let that anger and sadness out for even a second it will consume you?"

"Exactly that," uttered Yamato, before sighing, "You've felt it too."

"Everyday since I failed to stop Faust," explained Sento, a haunted look in his eyes, "I wasn't just Misora they captured, it was me as well, I had to watch as they forced her to produce FullBottle after FullBottle. By the time I could escape, they'd transferred her to another facility, I only just got away with my Driver and a few of my FullBottles, I didn't have time to find the rest."

Yamato reached into his jacket, placing his eight FullBottles on Sento's workbench. Setting his hand down, Sento added the Rabbit, Tank, Soujiki, Taka and Gorilla FullBottles to the rest.

"So you got the ones Foundation X stole back," commented Sento, before looking again, grabbing two of Yamato's FullBottles, "What are these?"

"The Canvas and Psychic FullBottles, matches with Shell and Turbo," informed Yamato.

"How did you get them?" questioned Sento as he examined the Bottles, before setting them down.

"Psychic was given to me by Onyx to help me beat BurnSting," replied Yamato, "Canvas, I purified when I took it from a mad scientist, Gara."

"Interesting, so you're like Misora?" queried Sento as he began to screw the cover back onto the Alpha Driver.

"What do you mean?" retorted Yamato, frowning.

"Nevermind," sighed Sento, offering the Alpha Driver to Yamato, "Give this a try."

"Sure," nodded Yamato, taking the Driver, plucking the Crystal and Python FullBottles from the workbench, giving them a quick shake.

[CRYSTAL!] [PYTHON!] [BEST MATCH!]

"What are you doing?" questioned Sento.

"Transforming?"

Sento sighed, before switching the position of the FullBottles, "You've been doing it the wrong way round."

[PYTHON!] [CRYSTAL!] [BEST MATCH!]

"Are you sure?" questioned Yamato as Sento attached probes to the Alpha Driver.

"Yep," replied Sento, turning the handle instead of Yamato.

The frame materialised around Yamato, the locations of the purple and gold armour halves swapped from normal, before the armour slammed shut around Yamato, transforming him into Hansei.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [SUISHOU NO SLITHERING!] [CRYSTALPYTHON!] [YEAH!]

Turning to a computer, Sento studied the data coming from the Alpha Driver, "No, this isn't right."

"What's wrong?" questioned Hansei.

"This form is far weaker than it should be," muttered Sento, "Could it be?"

Spinning to face Hansei, Sento spoke, "Swap the bottles, like you have been using them."

"Sure," shrugged Yamato, switching the FullBottles, turning the crank.

Slamming his hand down on a pile of papers, Sento watched as steam bellowed from Hansei's suit as it merged again, this time the other way around, before going back to his data.

"Yep, it's what I suspected," stated Sento, spinning around, "The reason your power levels are higher this way around is because of your cybernetics, they line up with the inorganic side and amplify its power."

"I'm not even going to try understand the science," muttered Yamato as he cancelled his transformation.

* * *

"This way," instructed Kohei as he lead Hina and Hase through the corridors, occasionally being passed by hacked Guardians or people dressed in black uniforms like Kohei's.

"What is this place?" questioned Hina they filed into the kitchen.

"An old abandoned research facility operated by the Japanese government before the Skywall incident," explained Kohei, "It was forgotten about after the country split, we found out about it in some old papers we stole."

"How many of you are there?" inquired Hase, grabbing an apple from a fruit bowl, munching into it, giving a short sigh at the lack of taste.

"Not many, there used to be more of us," admitted Kohei, looking downcast, "But we just have to keep going until we can change the past."

Suddenly, the room shook violently, the lights going out.

"What's going on?" asked Hina as the room was bathed in red light.

"We're under attack, they found us," uttered Kohei, "We have to get the device and escape, if they get it, we lose."

* * *

 _Hangar_

Coming the a halt, Sento and Yamato looked up as the hangar doors collapsed inwards, crushing two of the hovercrafts inside.

"No, no, no," murmured Sento, "We have to get the portal manipulator out of here, they'll destroy it if they get the chance."

"Where is it?" questioned Yamato as he attaching his Driver to his waist, Sento doing the same.

"That hovercraft," replied Sento, gesturing to a craft at the opposite side of the hangar.

A large black hovercraft touched down in the center of the hangar, the lift at the back dropping open to reveal BurnSting, with NightRogue and BloodStalk either side of him, Guardians behind them.

"Who are they?"

"Agents of Faust, or at least they used to be," answered Sento, shaking his Rabbit and Tank FullBottles, "Foundation X defeated them and took their gear at the same time."

"Got it, I'll get the device," spoke Yamato as he slotted his FullBottles into his Driver.

"I have waited years for this," snarled BurnSting, "I will kill you!"

"Lovely," commented Sento.

Yamato smiled, "I'd say you get used to him, but…"

[RABBITTANK!] [CRYSTALPYTHON!]

Build and Hansei charged forwards at BurnSting and his cronies, the latter using his Python Whip to swing himself over them, landing near the hovercraft with the device.

"I guess I'll just have to kill you first," sneered BurnSting, aiming his Transteam Pistol at Build.

[MATSUBOKKURI ARMS!]

[TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TATOBA!]

Kurokage and Hoshii dashed into the hangar, stopping either side of Build, Kohei stopping in the doorway, laser rifle in hand.

BurnSting sighed, "You know what to do."

BloodStalk and NightRogue raced forward, the former engaging Kurokage, the latter Hoshii.

"Let's go," stated Build, drawing his Drill Crusher as he charged, watching Hansei dodge into the hovercraft behind BurnSting.

Knocking BurnSting's shots aside with his drill, Build stabbed at his opponent.

BurnSting caught the Drill Crusher, holding it in place, "Let me give you a taste of my power, it's certainly grown since we last fought."

[RED FLARE!]

Red lightning crackled around BurnSting, before exploding outwards, sending Build flying back, his Drill Crusher falling from his grip.

As the smoke cleared BurnSting stepped forward, the black sections of his undersuit as well as his helmet changed to ruby red, his visor and scorpion on his chest turning pitch black.

"Impossible," muttered Build, snapping himself out of his shock, switching his Rabbit FullBottle out for Taka.

[TAKA!] [TANK!] [ARE YOU READY?!]

Red giving way for orange, Build soaring into the air, before flying at BurnSting, grabbing him and shooting out of the wrecked hangar doors.

"Stay still," growled Kurokage as he continued to swing at BloodStalk with his Kagematsu, who was dodging every attack, taking potshots with his Transteam Rifle.

"Fine, let's even this up," grunted Kurokage, drawing a purple Lockseed.

[BUDOU!]

Slamming the Lockseed into his Sengoku Driver, Kurokage sliced down with the knife.

[SOIYA! - BUDOU ARMS! RYU! HOU! HA-HA-HA!]

Transforming into Budou Arms, Kurokage raised the Ryuhou, pulling back the hammer.

Strafing sideways, Kurokage peppered BloodStalk with shots, watching as his opponents stumbled back, stunned, whoever was under the suit didn't know they were doing.

Nearby, Hoshii continued her duel with NightRogue, blocking her Steam Blade, countering with her claws and an enhanced kick.

"Let's switch things up," stated Hoshii, drawing Kuwagata Medal she'd taken from Granzel.

[KUWAGATA!] [TORA!] [BATTA!]

Light obscured Hoshii for a few seconds before fading, her Taka helmet switched for the Kuwagata helmet.

[GATATOBA!]

Building up the charge between her horns, Hoshii directed it at NightRogue, electricity coursing through her suit.

Going back to back, BloodStalk and NightRogue looked around to see the last Guardians taken down by Kohei.

"Let's retreat, Mei," fretted BloodStalk, NightRogue nodding in agreement.

Piling into the Foundation X hovercraft, the back door slamming shut as it lifted over, straight out of the hangar doors.

"And stay out!" mock-called Hase as he and Hina cancelled their transformations, high fiving.

Kohei took a deep breath, taking aim again. Hase's widened as he watched the barrel lock onto Hina.

Stepping sideways in front of Hina, Hase grunted as a shot rang out, striking him in the chest. Hase's body crumpled on top of Hina, knocking her down, her head smacking into the floor, sending her into unconiuosness.

"Got it!" called Hansei as he stepped out of the hovercraft, portal manipulator in hand, freezing at the sight of Kohei's smoking gun.

Freezing, Hansei only just broke out of it in time dodge a shot from Kohei.

"Why are you doing this, Kohei?" demanded Hansei, summoning his ArrowSlicer.

"Kohei is dead," replied the man, "I replaced him, it's been a dull six years playing the goody two shoes, watching for you show up."

Hansei forced down his anger and sorrow, he could deal with that later, "Then who are you?"

"I'm insulted you don't recognise me, Takahashi," sneered Kohei, strolling towards Hansei's hiding place.

"Onyx," hissed Yamato, switching his ArrowSlicer to bow mode.

"It seems you're not as stupid as you look," sneered Onyx, as his body morphed back into his normal form.

Stepping out of cover, Hansei fired off a hail of shots at Onyx, watching in disbelief as he twisted and turned, dodging every one of them.

"Did you think I'd just give you the real Psychic FullBottle," drawled Onyx as he held up his Onyx and a dark purple Psychic FullBottle, "We're still working out the kinks, the copies tend to come out weaker, different, kind of like you."

"You bastard," growled Hansei, trying to keep his temper in check.

Reaching into his jacket, Onyx produced a device resembling the FullBottle bay of a Build Driver or Transteam Breaker.

Lowering his right forearm to across his chest, Onyx attached the device to his wrist, slots facing upwards, before inserting the FullBottles.

[ONYX!] [PSYCHIC!] [PEERLESS MATCH!]

"Peerless match!?"

"A best match forged by emotion," retorted Onyx with a smug grin, "This is my full power!"

Grabbing the device, Onyx twisted it sideways, the FullBottles pointing towards his hand. Suddenly, the device extended down Onyx's arm, the section black with red, yellow and green wires running down to a Vortex Barrel, resembling the main section of the Transteam Breaker.

A frame appeared around Onyx, pipes extending from his wrist. The black sections of Onyx's suit materialised behind him. In front of him, purple pieces appeared.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [KOKORO DARKNESS!] [ONYXPSYCHIC!] [YEAH!]

The armour snapped shut, encasing Onyx in his suit. It resembled his Onyx Form, but the silver changed to deep purple, a Crystal Basher on each forearm, the matching pauldrons on his shoulders, the eyes both from the Psychic armour.

Flicking his wrists, the fists of the Crystal Bashers faded, giving Noir his dexterity back. Holding out his right hand, the Transteam Breaker appearing in his grip, lacking the section located on his wrist.

Grabbing the device from his wrist, Noir detached it, before slotting it into the empty space of the Transteam Breaker, completing it.

"An nice little upgrade from Dr. Tachibana," spoke Noir, securing the axe on his back, flicking his wrists, summoning the fists of the Crystal Bashers back again, "I couldn't just keep walking around with an axe everywhere."

Switching his ArrowSlicer to blade mode, Hansei charged at Noir, only for the black Rider to lazily dodge his swing. Holding up his fists, Noir tapped them together, Hansei suddenly freezing in place.

"Don't you understand?" snarled Noir as he stalked around Hansei, frozen in place, "All that time you thought you were winning, you were dancing to my tune."

Hansei wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. Lashing out, Noir pummeled at Hansei's chest, before allowing time to return to normal.

Yamato hit the floor, his Alpha Driver detaching from his waist, sliding away.

Noir gave a cold, sadistic laugh, before stilling over to pick up the Alpha Driver, pulling the Crystal and Python FullBottles from it.

"You won't be needing this anymore," hissed Noir, dropping the Driver to the floor and unhooking his Transteam Breaker from his back.

"Goodbye, Hansei," spoke Noir, bringing his axe down, cleaving the Alpha Driver in two.

"No!" called Yamato, desperately reaching out.

"Kamen Rider, no more," sneered Noir, before punching Yamato in the head, knocking him out cold.


	12. Chapter 12

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 12: Enter the Final Showdown**

* * *

Hase blinked, going to raise his arm, a blinding pain stopping him.

"Careful," chided Hina, helping Hase sit up.

"What happened?" murmured Hase, groaning as he looked around, they were in a hovercraft, Sento in the pilot's seat.

"You were shot," stated Sento, "If you weren't an Inves you would have died."

"Why did you do that?" questioned Hina as Hase looked down at his shoulder, a bandage with dark green blood leaking through, I didn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't have to, it would have killed you," replied Hase.

"It's because of what happened with BurnSting, isn't it?" asked Hina.

"You know?"

Hina sighed, "It wasn't hard to figure out, the way you and Yamato were acting made it pretty obvious."

"Wait, where's Yamato?" frowned Hase, eyes scanning around the craft.

"Onyx took him," responded Hina.

"He was disguised as Kohei," stated Sento, his voice harsh, "Six years I trusted him!"

"So how do we get Yamato back?" asked Hase, pushing himself out of his cot, grabbing a grey t-shirt and pulling it on.

"When I found Yamato in Foundation X's labs, I implanted a tracker into him," explained Sento, flashing Hina and Hase a smug smile, "It's how I found you guys at the temple."

"So we can track it back to where Onyx took Yamato," grinned Hase, pulling his leather jacket on, his fingers lingering over the hole from laser blast for a few seconds, "I'm ready to kick some X-Rider ass!"

"Not likely," spoke Hina, "You sprained your ankle yesterday and you got shot today."

Hase pulled his trouser leg up to reveal his injured ankle, now only a slight bruise, "I'll be fine, accelerated healing is a definite plus of being an Inves."

Hina frowned, "We'll see."

"So where did you dump BurnSting? Active volcano? Middle of the ocean?" joked Hase.

"Something like that," stated Sento, his voice hard.

Hase suddenly turned serious, "Good."

"There's something I need you give Yamato, you know, in case I don't," spoke Sento, drawing the Transteam Pistol from his jacket, the red device on top gone, "I took it from BurnSting, removed the _additions_ Foundation X sullied it with."

"I've already told Hina, but from the CCTV in the hangar, Onyx destroyed the Alpha Driver," continued Sento, watching the shock form on Hase's face, "With my modifications to the Transteam Gun it should be able to use purified FullBottles as well now."

"Can the Alpha Driver be fixed?" questioned Hase.

"Probably, but it would be easier just to make a new Build Driver instead," answered Sento, "My younger self can make him a replacement."

"Thanks," nodded Hase, taking the Transteam Gun with a small smile.

As Hase walked away, Sento reached into his pocket drawing a bundle of cloth. Carefully letting it fall open, avoiding contact with what was inside, the impure Scorpion FullBottle.

* * *

 _Foundation X Laboratory_

Yamato carefully opened his eyes.

He recognised the room he was in immediately, his entire body freezing.

It was the same room he'd woken up in when it had all started, the room where he'd become Kamen Rider Hansei, the room that haunted his dreams every night.

The door began to open, breaking Yamato out of his frozen state, shutting his eyes and pretending to be unconscious.

"Did you have to destroy the Alpha Driver, Onyx?" demanded a voice, one Yamato recognised as the scientist from when he first woke up, he still regretted injuring him in his anger.

Yamato still feared he might hurt someone like that again if he lost his temper.

"This way he can't steal it and run off again, can he?" retorted Onyx, "That really was an embarrassment for you, Dr. Tachibana."

"You know as well as I do that he didn't exactly go up against the Foundation's best soldiers, did he?" retorted Tachibana.

Onyx gave a cold laugh, "To think he thought he was hero."

Carefully opening his eyes again, Yamato looked around the lab, landing on where Onyx and Tachibana stood over a workstation, both with their backs turned to him.

"I haven't seen this in a while," commented Onyx, lifting up an axe, the original Onyx Breaker, "Why are you bothering with such inferior technology?"

"That isn't the original," explained Tachibana, taking it from Onyx, laying it back down, "It's a backup incase you damage the Transteam Breaker, again."

Onyx gave an affronted sighed, before reaching into his jacket, placing Yamato's FullBottles down on the table, "A gift, I have no use for them."

Tachibana snatched up the blue Psychic FullBottle, "If you ever take an untested prototype for my lab again I'll make sure the one afterwards blows you up!"

"Sure, sure," drawled Onyx, turning around, "Look who's awake."

Yamato pulled against the shackles holding him up against the vertical gurney.

"What did you do to me?" demanded Yamato, pulling again, feeling far weaker than he'd gotten used to since he'd been turned into a cyborg.

"I can't have you escaping now can you," spoke Tachibana, strolling up to Yamato, "So I turned your implants down a bit, not so nice being weak like you used to be?"

"ARI, turn them back on," stated Yamato, pausing, "ARI?"

"You won't be needing your AI anymore," uttered Tachibana, drawing a yellow FullBottle, throwing it up into the air and catching it, "You won't be needing it anymore, not after the operation."

"Operation?" questioned Yamato warily.

Tachibana sighed, "You know what, I'll monologue, I don't tend to do it all that much these days, I think I actually miss it a bit."

Onyx yawned, exaggerating it.

"Fine," frowned Tachibana, rolling his eyes, "An operation to extract the nebula gas that flows through your veins, considering you managed to purify the Canvas FullBottle like we hoped, it should be capable of doing the same with an impure FullBottle that's been giving me quite the problems these last six years."

Yamato eyes landed on the workstation, an impure FullBottle placed facing him, the outline of a drop of blood on the front.

"It will be my _magnus opus_ when it is complete," explained Tachibana, "An artificial FullBottle forged from your father's blood, empowered by you sister's Nebula Gas and it will be purify with your essence, truly a power you don't deserve."

"That's why you turned my sister into a Smash, for an experiment?" snarled Yamato, his anger threatening to consume him.

"She made an excellent test subject," spoke Tachibana, with a sadistic smile, "Thanks to her, _sacrifice_ , we discovered that the ability to resist the effect of the Nebula Gas is in some way hereditary."

"My goodness this is boring," yawned Onyx, "But at least it's not as boring as pretending to actually put up with Sento Kiryu for six years."

"What did you do to Kohei?" demanded Yamato.

"I didn't do anything," sneered Onyx, turning and walking closer to Yamato, "You did, or at least you will, very soon."

"What do you mean?" retorted Yamato, pulling again while Onyx and Tachibana watched on, "Tell me!"

Onyx laughed, "The game's been fun, but the joke is over now, Shiro."

Yamato growled, "Don't you call me that!"

"I feel betrayed, _Shiro_ ," jeered Onyx, "Didn't you ask me to call you that, don't you remember our first day of class?"

The breath caught in Yamato's lungs, he wanted to scream but nothing would come out.

Onyx stepped forward, morphing into Kohei once again, but this time he was the same young man Yamato had yelled at in the hospital, "How could you forget your best friend, Shiro."

Yamato shook his head, "No, you can be Kohei, you're just a fake!"

"Would a fake know this?" retorted Kohei, before speaking in a mocking tone, "Because you're my friend, and that's what friends do."

"Why?" uttered Yamato his face pale with shock.

"Because of what you did to me!" yelled Kohei, his entire temperament flipping in an instant, "When I went back to your room the day after Osamu took you, I found Touka, she begged me to find you, gave me an ID she stole from your father."

"So I broke into this very building all those years ago, I couldn't find you but I found a portal," continued Kohei, practically frothing at the mouth, "I heard voices so I entered the portal in panic, well, that's where it gets interesting."

"What. Happened."

Kohei leaned forward, whispering in Yamato's ear, "That's for you to find out."

"What about Touka?" questioned Yamato angrily, "You were the one who made her a Smash, didn't you?

"Starting to catch on," grinned Kohei, "She sent me to my fate, for that I took my revenge, thanks to Dr. Tachibana of course, besides the level gas needed for the experiment would lethal even to us, we need someone, disposable."

"You bastards!" growled Yamato, yanking at his shackles again.

"This is boring," stated Kohei, "Extract his essence and merge it with the Blood FullBottle."

"Come back here!" yelled Yamato as Kohei left, the door swinging shut behind him.

* * *

 _Portal Room_

A swirl of lights flashed around Kohei as he marvelled at the sight. Looking up, he could see a circle of purple energy nearing, suddenly engulfing him.

With a crash, Kohei was spat out of master portal, back in the same room he'd just left.

"Weird," commented Kohei as he stood up, dusting himself off.

The room he was in looked almost identical to the one he'd left but when he looked closer the differences began to appear, some of the equipment was much older, some of it had been replaced entirely.

"I've so fucked up," sighed Kohei.

* * *

 _Resistance Hovercraft_

"It's time to go!" called Sento over the roaring win, as he, Hina and Hase stood around the open cargo bay.

Hase gulped, "Can't we just land?"

"Foundation X would detect us, they can't like this," replied Sento, "Are you?"

"No, I love this sort of thing, who wouldn't love risking their lives like this," snapped Hase, "Of course I scared of heights!"

"It's fine," assured Hina, placing a hand on Hase's shoulder.

"My repulsor packs will stop us from going splat," explained Sento, "It's theory of course."

With that, Sento dropped.

"In theory!" exclaimed Hase, "You idio-"

Hina heaved, pushing Hase, watching as he fell, spinning head over heel, "As much I understand your fears, now's not the time."

Dropping out the cargo bay, Hina tucked her arms in, catching up to the flailing Hase in a few short moments.

Reaching out, Hina grabbed his arm, steadying him.

Hase glared at Hina for a few seconds before adopting the same position as her.

Accelerating downwards, the two caught up with Sento, the three of them entered positions to slow their fall.

Sento looked from Hina and Hase, before holding up his hand, counting down from five.

On one the three of them pulled the cord on their shoulder, the packs on their backs lighting up light blue, slowing their fall.

"This are amazing!" called Hase, grinned as adrenaline rushed through his veins.

Hina smiled, just about able to hear Hase.

Throwing out his arms, Hase pirouetted around and around, a silly grin on his face.

"Don't!" yelled Sento, "These are untested!"

Hase looked across at Sento, suddenly hearing a brief buzz from his pack, before finding himself plummeting to earth again.

"Hase!" called Hina, looking around the shoulder straps of her pack, "We have to save him!"

"We can't," explained Sento, "These packs don't have a backup, besides we've got bigger fish to fry."

Looking down, Hina eyes widened at the sight of one of the Foundation X base's turrets locking onto them.

"It must be programmed to stop people dropping in," commented Sento, "I should have probably thought this through."

Tumbling to earth, Hase just about managed to steady himself, looking down to see the turret firing at Hina and Sento, only just missing them.

He had to do something.

 _Attempting to shield himself with his arms, Hase watched in surprise as vines grew around him like a cocoon, cushioning him as he smashed into the ground, leaves flying everywhere._

"YES!" yelled Hase, dropping his arms and aiming at the turret as he accelerated.

Closing his eyes, Hase crossed his arms in front of his chest, hoping and praying to whichever god would listen that his would work.

Opening his eyes, Hase's eyes glowed gold as he changed into Inves form, vines growing from all over his body, weaving around him to form a bullet shape.

"I'm sorry, Jonouchi," whispered Hase, continuing to rocket towards the turret, "I won't be able to see you again."

"No!" called Hina, watching in horror at the vine bullet struck the turret, exploding in a massive fireball.

Hina struggled to hold back tears while Sento looked down at the fiery remains of the turret, horror in his eyes, it was his fault.

A hail of laser fire forced Sento from his dazed state, looking down to see Foundation X goons firing at them.

Pulling his Driver from his jacket, Sento slammed it onto his waist, summoning the Drill Crusher, using it to return fire.

A stray shot soared through the sky, hitting Hina's pack, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Hina!" exclaimed Sento, reaching out his hand.

Fumbling with her Core Medals, Hina tried to slot them into her OOO Driver, losing her grip on them.

* * *

 _Hase looked around him at the solid white light around him._

" _Great, I died, again," sighed Hase, frowning as he realised he was speaking English fluently, something he couldn't normally do._

" _Not quite," spoke an ethereal voice._

" _Who's there?"_

" _Hello, Hase," spoke Kouta as he faded into existence in front of Hase, in his godly form._

" _Kouta?" uttered Hase, stepping forward._

 _Kouta nodded, smiling slightly, "In the flesh, well, not really."_

" _You're an actual god," spoke Hase, "How could you let this war happened, how could you let Faust and Foundation X?"_

" _If I could, I would," sighed Kouta, folding his arms, "The Pandora's Box blocks me from interfering directly, but you can go back, change things."_

" _How?"_

" _I can give you portion of my power," explained Kouta as he shimmered, shifting into his civilian form, "Just a sliver, that's all I can."_

" _Why do you trust me?" asked Hase, "I treated you like dirt when we we both still human."_

" _You're still my friend," smiled Kouta, "You always were."_

 _Reaching out, Kouta opened his hand to reveal a Matsubokkuri Energy Lockseed, the plastic gold, a Genesis Core appearing next to it._

 _Taking them, Hase held one in each hand as he looked down at them._

" _Hase, there's something I need to remember," spoke Kouta, his face turning serious, "When man and machine become one, when the gem is cracked, save the enemy, save the world."_

 _Hase frowned, "What does that mean?"_

* * *

Hina continued to rocket towards the earth, her attempts to grab her Core Medals in vain, just out of her reach as she accelerated away from them.

Sento scrambled to get into his jacket, the straps stopping him from retrieving his Taka FullBottle. A sudden movement catching his attention, Sento watched as golden beams of light began to shine out of the ruins of the turret.

The metal suddenly exploded outwards as Hase soared into the air, wings of golden energy carrying him, his eyes glowing the matching. colour

Reaching Hina, Hase stretched his arm out, slowing his fall, using his other arm to snatch Hina's medals out the air as they passed them.

Floating towards the ground, Hina and Hase touched down behind the cover of a truck. Hase grunted as the golden energy wings retracted within his body, the glow of his eyes fading away.

"Next time, I catch you," spoke Hina, leaning against the truck, catching her breath.

"It that a promise?" replied Hase, doing the same thing.

"Yeah," uttered Hina before they both burst into laughter.

"Now's not the time for whatever this is," spoke Sento as he landed in front of Hina and Hase, having cut the repulsor pack off early, using the Rabbit FullBottle's power to cushion his fall.

Hina and Hase both looked affronted and embarrassed for a few seconds, before copying Sento as he drew his Build Driver.

"Let's give them hell," stated Sento, drawing the Gorilla and Tank FullBottles.

"Gladly," grinned Hase, fitting his Matsubokkuri Lockseed into his Sengoku Driver, before swapping his Rider Indicator out for the Genesis Core that Kouta had given him.

[MATSUBOKKURI!] [MATSUBOKKURI ENERGY!]

Inserting the golden Energy Lockseed into his Driver, Hase slammed the knife down, opening both the Lockseeds as he stepped out from behind cover.

[SOIYA! - MATSUBOKKURI ARMS! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOWS!] [TATAMI MATSUBOKKURI!] [WASSHOI!]

Two armour parts appeared above Hase, both Matsubokkuri, however one glowed with gold energy. Spinning around Hase, the armour parts deflected the hail of laser fire before merging into an armour part similar to Jinba and dropping onto Hase, a black undersuit appearing, similar to Kurokage but with the leg armour changed to gold. Circle patterns in gold on the thighs and gauntlets of the suit, the chest silver with the same quilted pattern as Gaim and Zangetsu, a Musoh Saber at his waist.

The black and silver armour part unfolded, resembling a lighter variant of a Jinba armour, the black chest section made of interlocking black hexagons, a golden matsubokkuri pattern down the side of the armour.

"Woah!" exclaimed Hina and Sento in union as Hase's new form was revealed.

"I think it's time I took a new name, after all, you idiots did steal mine," commented Hase, grinning under his helmet, "How about Yariha, Kamen Rider Yariha, yeah, I like it."

"Spear blade?" murmured Hina.

Holding out his hand, the Kagematsu-Shin appeared in his grip. Swinging it around, Yariha used it to block the Foundation X Kurokage Troopers' laser fire away, a couple of shots even reflecting back at the Troopers.

Once the laser fire had stopped, Yariha held the Kagematsu-Shin out in front of him before tapping it on the ground. A golden haze surrounded Yariha before he suddenly split into three.

"Fascinating," murmured Sento as Yariha multiplied again, the nine riders standing in the line.

"Six attack, three support," ordered the center Yariha, the rest springing into action, the three on the end of each side rushed at the Kurokage Troopers, while the center three summoned Sonic Arrows, sniping at the Troopers.

"Better get into it," commented Sento, slotting the Gorilla and Tank FullBottles into his Driver and charging into the battle, "Can't let him have all the fun!"

Hina nodded, slotting her medals into her Driver, "He'd be unbearable if he won all by himself."

[GORILLA!] [TANK!] [ARE YOU READY?!]

[TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TATOBA!]

Build and Hoshii charged past the support Yariha clones, drawing the Drill Crusher and Birth Buster respectively. Swinging the Muscle Glove, Build sent a Trooper flying backwards, allowing a Yariha to slash them across the chest.

"We need to get into the facility!" called Build as he, Hoshii and one of the Yariha split off, running ahead.

"That not going to happened," announced a voice.

The three riders looked up in time to see a dark figure fall from the roof above, landing with a crash in front of them.

"Onyx!" sneered Yariha as he multiplied again, momentarily having to hold himself up with his Kagematsu-Shin before his strength returned.

Unhooking the Transteam Breaker from his back, Noir, in Onyx Form, strolled forward.

"You won't be rescuing your friend," sneered Noir, "In fact, Tachibana should just about be finished extracting Shiro's Nebula Gas from his body, and after that, he'll be disposed of, waste material."

"You bastard!" spat the center Yariha, the three duplicates charged at Noir.

Holding up his Psychic FullBottle, Noir gave it a quick shake, Build, Hoshii and the Yariha doubles freezing in place, "Let's have some fun."

"Onyx, the Blood FullBottle is complete, it is time for the next stage of Project Harbinger," spoke a voice, identical to ARI's, in his ear.

"Shame, I'd been looking forward to this," sighed Noir, drawing three strange devices like large golf balls with two slots in the top of each, "Time for a field test."

Drawing six FullBottles, Noir inserted two into each device before tossing them into the air. Turning around and beginning to walk away as the devices unfolded into Guardian heads, hovering into the air at head height as frames appeared around them.

[NINNINCOMIC!] [ROCKETPANDA!] [FIREHEDGEHOG!] [BEST MATCH!]

The armours snapped shut, the Guardian heads attached to the three suits.

"Have fun with the BuildRoids," commented Noir before suddenly blurring away as the riders were released from their paralysis.

Yariha dropped to his knee as the other clones vanished, streams of light flying back into the original version. Grunting in pain, Yariha held his head.

"Hase?" exclaimed Hoshii, rushing to Yariha, "What's wrong?"

"The memories of all the others," uttered Yariha, standing as the worst of the pain passed, shaking his head, "I'm fine."

"You two go," spoke Build, pointing at the BuildRoids waiting to attack, "I'll hold these guys off."

"You can't!" argued Hoshii.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," replied Build, he hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.

"Thank you," nodded Hoshii, pausing for a second before she and Yariha took off.

Turning to face the BuildRoids, Build sighed, drawing the Rabbit FullBottle and quickly changing to RabbitTank Form.

[RABBITTANK!]

"The laws of victory have been determined!" called Build, before switching the Drill Crusher to blade mode and charging at the FireHedgehog BuildRoid.

* * *

 _Tachibana's Lab_

Yamato's chest heaved as the pain began to recede, his vision coming back into focus, Onyx was back.

Tachibana held out a briefcase, "The Blood FullBottle is complete, take this and return to 2017, take your younger version's place, I've included all my research from the last six years, make sure that I get it."

Onyx sighed, "You don't need to tell me the plan again, or is it for Shiro's benefit?"

"He is of little concern," sneered Tachibana, "He will be disposed of post haste, without the Nebula Gas he is powerless."

Onyx smiled, the mirth not reaching his eyes as he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

"How wrong you are," spoke Onyx, hovering for a few seconds before setting off again.

Back inside the lab, Yamato grunted in pain as he tried to pull against the restraints, finding himself even weaker than before.

"This will be a most enlightening experiment, be glad your life is going to good use," explained Tachibana as he pulled on a gas mask, before hitting a button in his keyboard.

Nebula Gas flooded the lab from a vent in the wall, within seconds it was tickling Yamato's nostrils. Taking a deep breath, Yamato's eyes began to water, holding on desperately.

"Now, now, no cheating," scolded Tachibana, mockingly, stepping forward and punching Yamato in the gut, expelling the air from his lungs, forcing him to breath in the Nebula Gas.

Eyes bulging, Yamato struggled and contorted as the gas worked it's way into his bloodstream.

"The operation rendered you Hazard Level 1.0, with prolonged exposure you will soon perish," informed Tachibana casually.

Yamato screamed, the pain was immense, like someone had dropped a building on him. He'd failed, he wouldn't see Touka or his mother again, he couldn't make it home.

 _Yamato, wake up!_

Jerking his head up, the pain wracking his body, Yamato's eyes widened.

 _ARI? How?_

 _I'm not sure, but you have to fight this, I know you can!_

 _I don't know it I can, I think this is where my story ends._

 _No, no it isn't, in the ten months I've been with you, I've had direct line into your thoughts and feelings. Your emotions have taught be what it's like to human, if they can do that, you can do this! For Touka, Hase, Hina, your mother, for me!_

Yamato's emotions began to reach boiling point, for months he'd been pushing them down, barely keeping his violent temper under control. That had got him where he was, so Yamato let go, letting his emotions engulf him.

Giving a loud roar, Yamato opened his eyes, glowing white as the Nebula Gas in the lab began to be sucked towards Yamato, entering him.

"What are you doing!" yelled Tachibana, watching on his screen as Yamato's Hazard Level began to increase, passing 2.0 in only a few seconds.

"Stop it! Stop it!" shouted Tachibana, starting to sound desperate as he shut off the Nebula Gas.

Yanking his arm, Yamato broke the restraint, before doing the same with the other three. Dropping down, Yamato stalked towards Tachibana, who cowered in fear.

Anger etched onto his face, eyes still glowing, Yamato reached down and picked Tachibana up by the same arm he'd broken all those months ago.

"A reminder of why you shouldn't fuck with me," snarled Yamato, squeezing his grip on Tachibana's arm, feeling the bone snap and crumble.

Tachibana howled in pain, Yamato continuing to apply pressure, blood dripping from his hand.

"You murdered my sister, exposed her to Nebula Gas and turned her into a Smash," growled Yamato, hitting a button on Tachibana's keyboard, Nebula Gas beginning to flood into the lab again, "Seems only fitting to return the favour."

Ripping the mask from Tachibana's face, Yamato twisted his arm around and forced his nose and mouth against the vent.

Screaming in a mixture of terror and agony, Tachibana spasmed uncontrollable as Yamato continued to holding him place.

Tachibana fell silent, his body going limp, Yamato dropping him to the floor. Shutting of the Nebula Gas, the strength suddenly leaving Yamato, forcing him to hold onto the workstation.

Looking down at Tachibana, his face scorched dark green by the Nebula Gas, Yamato wanted to feel guilt, remorse. But he didn't, he only felt satisfaction.

 _He deserved it, Yamato._

"Who makes be judge, jury and executioner," spoke Yamato.

 _That's not important right now, if Onyx escapes to the past who knows what kind of mayhem he will unleash._

Yamato sighed, "You're right."

Turning to face the workstation, Yamato quickly located his FullBottles, stashing them away. Picking up the two halves of his Alpha Driver, Yamato looked sadly at them before adding them to his jacket.

"This will have to do," uttered Yamato, taking the Onyx Breaker from the workstation, using the sheath it was in to strap it to his back.

 _The Alpha Driver, it seems the power supply and storage are undamaged, contained wholly on one side of the Driver._

"Some good news at least," muttered Yamato, before slowly picking up the yellow FullBottles, the head of an ankylosaurus on the front, "So this is where you are?"

 _Correct, this FullBottle has been modified with a storage device powerful and large enough to host my program._

Turning the Ankylo FullBottle over in his hand, Yamato tucked it onto his jacket pocket before setting off, opening the lab door, starting to follow the same path he'd taken the last time he been in this facility.


	13. Chapter 13

**Arc 1 - Worlds Apart**

 **Chapter 13: A Battle of Fate**

* * *

 _Foundation X Facility_

Build staggered back as FireHedgehog drenched him with water, the torrent obscuring his vision.

Falling backwards, Build watched as NinninComic strode towards him, raising the 4Koma Ninpou, preparing to bring it down.

A ball of blue flames knocked NinninComic to the ground, sword falling from its grip.

"Still can't manage without me?" questioned voice, coloured with mirth.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Build, accepting the hand up, coming face-to-face with Ryuga, dressed in a Guardian uniform.

"You wanted me to be your secret weapon, it took a while to get here, I just didn't expect Kohei to be the traitor," retorted Ryuga, casually knocking RocketPanda aside, "We really need to get better at finding traitors, Kohei, Sawa, Y-"

"I get the point," interrupted Build, "Help me finish off these droids and we can find Misora and catch up to the others."

"We'd better be quick," replied Ryuga, snatching up the 4Koma Ninpou and charging at the BuildRoids alongside Build, "They're taking her to the portal as well."

"Then it's time for this," snapped Build, rotating the Vortex Crank and jumping into the air, the graph line trapping NinninComic and RocketPanda.

Tapping the button on the 4Koma Ninpou, Ryuga summoned a flame attack, combining it with the blue dragon fire, engulfing FireHedgehog.

Build smashed through the two BuildRoids, landing on the ground, sparks flying from the soles of his boots.

"Can't stand the heat?" queried Ryuga watching as FireHedgehog melted.

"Really?" asked Sento, pulling the Rabbit and Tank FullBottles from his Driver as he stepped over the sparking remains of RocketPanda and NinninComic, sighing at sight of the shattered FullBottles, "That's what you go with?"

Ryuga bobbed his head confrontationally, "Like you could do any better."

"I could, watch," retorted Sento, "Try putting that out."

Ryuga scrunched his face up, "Uh, that is better."

* * *

Yamato raced down the corridor, arriving at an airlock door, the sight of Noir on the other side, Transteam Breaker in one hand, case in the other.

"I'm impressed you escaped," sneered Noir, his voice muffled, "But I can't let you stop me."

Lashing out with his axe, Noir struck a pipe on the wall, Nebula Gas flooding in the airlocked corridor. Turning around, Noir strolled down the corridor, before blurring away, leaving a trail of purple energy behind.

"Come back here!" yelled Yamato, banging on the door.

 _We have to go around._

"No, we don't have the time," replied Yamato, drawing the Onyx Breaker from his back, shaking his Crystal and Python FullBottles.

[CRYSTAL!] [PYTHON!] [BEST MATCH!]

Inserting the FullBottles into the Onyx Breaker, Yamato gave shout as he swung it down over his head, the metal edge digging into the floor.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [SUISHOU NO SLITHERING!] [CRYSTALPYTHON!] [YEAH!]

A frame appeared around Yamato, the armour forming in front and behind him, before enclosing him. Returning the axe to the holster on his back, Hansei looked down at his suit.

It resembled Onyx's suit, the black sections purple, silver changed to gold, Python eyes glinting under the harsh lighting, the handle of the PythonWhip sticking out of his shoulder.

"I'm coming, Touka," uttered Hansei, heaving the heavy airlock door open and slipping into the corridor, turning to face downwards as the door slammed shut.

Coughing as the Nebula Gas began to fill his lungs, Hansei charged forward, down the cloudy corridor.

 _Yamato, be quick! Your body can't take much more of the gas after how much exposure you've already had._

"Don't worry," grunted Hansei, "I'm not giving up now!"

 _Alright, Yamato!_

Reaching the second door, Hansei pulled with all his might, wisps of yellow and white energy gathering around his hands as he slipped through the gap, only just making it through before it banged shut, sealing the Nebula Gas within the corridor.

Unhooking the Onyx Breaker from his back, Hansei set off after Noir, his feet pounding the floor as ran as fast as he could.

* * *

Yariha lashed out with his Kagematsu-Shin, knocking the Guardian back, allowing Hoshii the open shot to blast a hole its chest with her Birth Buster.

"Let's finish this up!" called Hoshii, grabbing the OOO Scanner from her belt as Yariha joined her.

[SCANNING CHARGE!]

[TATAMI MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!]

Hoshii jumped into the air, red, yellow and green energy gathered around her foot while Yariha ran his fingers across the blade of the Kagematsu-Shin, golden energy shrouding it.

Launching his Kagematsu-Shin at the remaining Guardians like a javelin, Yariha watched as he ploughed through the robots, followed up by a rider kick from Hoshii, destroying them entirely.

Joining Hoshii, Yariha sighed as more Guardians appeared further down the corridor, "At least they're showing up the way to go, like a very strange version of the yellow-brick road."

"I don't think anyone's ever accused Foundation X of making things simple," retorted Hoshii, dropping three of the Guardians with shots from her Birth Buster while a Yariha clone appeared behind the last robot, stabbing it through the chest.

"I think we go through here," piped up another Yariha, standing outside the door to the Nebula Gas corridor, "Look! There's Yamato! Woah, new suit!"

"You heard the man," grinned the main Yariha, jogging over to his clone, who faded as he arrived, "That's a nice suit."

"Can focus a little less on the suit?" queried Hoshii as she joined Yariha, examining the panel at the side of the door, "Nebula Gas leak, we'll have to go around."

"I got this," assured Yariha, backing up and running at the door, a clone appearing on the other side as the original faded.

Hacking and coughing, Yariha collapsed to one knee, gasping for air.

"What part of 'Nebula Gas leak' did you not understand?" questioned Hoshii, looking for a way to get the door open, quickly finding the button, "When I press this, you get out as fast as you can."

Yariha pushed himself to his feet, "No, just get behind me and hold on."

Hoshii was about to argue when Yariha's golden wings erupted from his back, "Ahh."

Hitting the button, Hoshii took a deep breath, ducking in the corridor and behind Hase, grabbing hold of a pipe. Lifting into the air, Yariha flapped his wings, the air rushing past him, carrying the Nebula Gas out the corridor, before the door slammed shut.

Wings fading, Yariha dropped to his feet, feeling slightly unstable for a few seconds before he regained his balance, "Let's go."

* * *

 _Warp Room_

"This ends now, Kohei!" yelled Yamato as came to halt in the doorway, Onyx Breaker in hand, freezing at the sight in front of him.

Noir, now in OnyxPsychic Form, stood, a knife in his hand, held to the throat of Kohei, "It's ironic that it ends in this room, where it all started, for you, and for me."

"What the hell is going?" demanded Hansei.

"Toss the Onyx Breaker aside or I'll give him the closest shave he's ever had!" ordered Noir.

"If you did that, you'd be killing yourself as well," argued Hansei.

"The Psychic FullBottle protects me from changes to the timeline," retorted Noir, "Now, do as I say."

Hansei sighed, pulling the FullBottles from the Onyx Breaker, his suit vanishing as he did.

"Yamato!" exclaimed Kohei in shock, "H-How?"

Letting the Onyx Breaker drop to the floor, Yamato looked up at Kohei, "It's a really long story."

"Drop the FullBottles as well," instructed Noir.

"Sure," nodded Yamato, moving to drop the Crystal and Python FullBottles before suddenly lurching forward, sending them flying at Kohei and Noir.

On reflex, Noir reached out to bat them away, the knife leaving Kohei's throat, who quickly ducked under Noir arm and dashed to join Yamato.

[BALLOONWEB!]

Transforming back into Hansei, this time into a pink armour with a brown collar, arms and belt. Both shoulders were the larger version from the Balloon armour while he had a WebShot on each arm.

Firing a web out to the ceiling, Hansei inflated himself slightly, making himself a little lighter. Pulling on the web, Hansei shot forward, swinging in an arc around Noir, scooping up his Crystal and Python FullBottles as he went.

Continuing to circle Noir, Hansei fired off web after web, until Noir was entire wrapped in the sticky fibres.

"I was going to do this the easy way, the way it happened for me back then, but it seems you can't help but screw things up!" sneered Noir, flicking his forearms, the Crystal Bashers appearing.

Ripping out of the webs, Noir tapped the Bashers together, freezing Hansei in place, mid-swing.

Launching himself into the air, Noir punched Hansei with the Crystal Basher, sending him spiraling back in a burst of sparks before he froze again.

Landing, Noir turned towards the master portal, securing his Transteam Breaker to his back, striding over to a terminal next to the portal. Tapping away at the keyboard, Noir looked up to the portal as it sprang to life.

"The plan was to take Isurugi back as well, before you messed it up," sighed Noir, moving to stand in front the portal, "I'll just have to capture her again, and I can't wait to kill Touka all over again."

"Why are you doing this?" demanded Yamato, "Going back when you already have this world in an iron grip? Do you just want to cause more pain?"

Noir chuckled, "Nothing of the sort. No, I'm going back to replace my younger self and deliver the Blood FullBottle and the others before they were even conceived."

"To cut down on development time?" breathed Hansei, unbelievably, "All this misery for that?"

"The ends justify the means," stated Noir, "Standard practice here at Foundation X, in fact Project Kaiser will be heading back to 2017 from their facility as we speak, you can't stop it Shiro!"

"I can try!" growled Hansei, desperately trying to move.

"You don't seem to get it, Project Hansei, in this never ending cycle of me going back time, was only put into motion this cycle," sneered Noir, "Before this cycle you were never taken from the timeline, in fact you killed yourself a few weeks after when we took you,"

"All of this, making you a rider, giving you ARI, letting Build wake you up before readjustment, was to create the Blood FullBottle, pure power," continued Noir, "Do you think those worlds were just random, no, they carefully chosen to grow your power, give you allies to help drive you forward, all for this FullBottle."

"Bastard!" grunted Hansei from where he was frozen in place.

"No, that's you," retorted Noir, before stepping into the portal, Hansei unfroze, the former smashing back into the wall, before dropping to the ground, his head hitting the floor, smashing the left eye of his suit, revealing a portion of his face below.

"What's going on?" questioned Kohei, looking at Hansei, "What's going on, Yamato?"

"Right now, a lot," sighed Hansei, taking a deep breath, "Foundation X, evil, transdimensional organisation, which my father is a part of, kidnapped be on his orders and transformed me in a cyborg Kamen Rider. I escaped, Onyx banished me out into the multiverse, I set out on my way back, made some new friends, Hase and Hina, arrived back thirty years into the future, apocalyptic, need to go through that portal to save the world."

"So you were lying when you said it was a long story," replied Kohei, "Who is he, Onyx? It's like he knows you."

Hansei paused, before speaking, "There's no easy way of-"

Blue sparks lit up Hansei's suit as he dropped to one knee, grunting in pain.

"What was that?" questioned Hansei, his breathing ragged.

"The Onyx Breaker isn't compatible with your FullBottles, it was designed for one FullBottle and one FullBottle alone, the Onyx FullBottle," explained ARI through the speaker.

"Great," grunted Yamato as his suit gave in, vanishing.

"Would this help?" questioned Kohei, reaching into his jacket and holding it out to Yamato, "Noir forced it on me when he attacked me."

"The Onyx FullBottle," murmured Yamato as he took the device, turning it over in his hand, "How?"

 _It appears to be a version from earlier in its timeline. Using this and the FullBottle my mainframe is stored in might be able to stabilise the transformation._

"Let's give it go," replied Yamato, drawing the yellow FullBottle housing ARI, a white glow coming from it, "Wait. What?"

 _Fascinating, it appears we empowered this FullBottle with your essence._

"How?" questioned Yamato, examining the yellow FullBottle, the image of an ankylosaurus head etched onto the front, the normally black plastic, gold instead.

 _When Tachibana drained your essence, are emotions began to sync, forming a connection between you and the FullBottle I am contained within, siphoning of some of your stolen essence._

"How much?" asked Yamato.

 _Around a quarter, enough that the Blood FullBottle is likely uncontrollable now without your essence to balance it._

"Good," stated Yamato, holding up the Ankylo FullBottles, "Let's give this a test drive."

[ONYX!] [ANKYLO!] [BEST MATCH!]

Inserting the FullBottles into the Onyx Breaker, Yamato swung it around, gouging a line in the metal wall as struck it.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [SEIGI NO RAMPAGE!] [ONYXANKYLO!] [YEAH!]

A frame appeared around him, creating the Onyx sections of the armour, while the smaller pieces materialised behind him.

"HENSHIN!"

The armour snapped shut, engulfing him. It resembled the regular Onyx Form, however each shoulder had a white spike sticking out, the undersuit of the arms yellow, along with the collar and the belt of the suit.

On his forearms were yellow and black gauntlets with white spikes running down the outer edge. Raising his head, the eyes of the suit showed the side-profile of an ankylosaurus head, coloured white, glowing in the gloom of the portal room.

Holstering the Onyx Breaker, Hansei turned to Kohei, "We need to go, now."

"Honestly, I'm still entirely lost," replied Kohei.

"Once we get back to the past, you need to get away, go hide, I'll handle Onyx," instructed Hansei, "Got it?"

"Sure," nodded Kohei, before pausing, "What about you, you can't beat him, you have to run as well!"

"No," uttered Hansei, walking towards the portal, Bull Stamper cracking the concrete with every step, "I'm a Kamen Rider, it's my duty to run towards danger when everyone else is running away, I think I understand that now."

 _Let's go, Yamato!_

With a cry, Hansei vanished through the portal, ready to fight.

Kohei sighed, before heading through the portal after him, "It's like we're kids all over again, running off into something ridiculous without thinking."

* * *

Unfreezing, both Hoshii and Yariha stumbled forward, having to catch their balance.

"What was that?" asked Yariha.

"Onyx," replied Hoshii, setting off again, Yariha only a few steps behind her, "Sento showed me footage of when he took Yamato, he froze him like that as well."

Rounding the corner, Hoshii and Yariha came to a halt as they were confronted with the sight of the empty portal room.

"They must have gone through already," surmised Hoshii.

"We need to go after them," stated Yariha, as he and Hoshii began to head for the portal.

"Wait!"

Turning, Hoshii and Yariha watched as Sento as well as a man and a woman, entered the room.

"Sento?" uttered Hoshii.

"What did you give me in the hovercraft?" demanded Yariha, suspicion in his voice.

"A Transteam Gun," replied Sento.

"Who's your friends?" questioned Yariha, satisfied.

"Ryuga, I knew I had a traitor in my ranks so I kept him as the ace up my sleeve," explained Sento, "And Misora, she can create FullBottles, Faust kidnapped her six years ago, she transferred to Foundation X after they defeated them, they were moving her to take her back as well, we intercepted."

"Tired," groaned Misora, before suddenly shifting, her voice scarily deep, "I'm going to cut the next Foundation X guy I see."

Ryuga shivered, "Still creeps me out."

"Why were you telling us to wait?" asked Hoshii.

"Oh, that, yes," replied Sento, striding over to the console, "The portal is connected to six years ago, exactly six years ago. When a second passes here, you come out a second later at the other end."

"Damn nerd," murmured Ryuga, mostly to himself, his tone amused.

"Onyx's ability to freeze people is too powerful to defeat on level playing field, so we'll cheat!" exclaimed Sento, a strand of hair suddenly sticking up as he typed away, "So I'm going to change how far back it sends you as much as I can, six years and ten minutes."

"Why not six years and a day?" questioned Yariha, "It would give us longer to prepare."

"No," replied Sento, finishing his work, the portal rippling for a few seconds, "By the time it takes for portal to recalibrate for an entire day has passed, the reinforcements Foundation X has sent will be here, and they will send everything they've got."

"That, would be bad," muttered Hase.

"Now go," instructed Sento.

"Aren't you joining us?" queried Hoshii.

"If we go back our younger versions cease to exist, we replace them, I don't want to remember what I've seen," explained Sento, both Misora and Ryuga nodding in agreement.

Yariha nodded, "I understand."

"I do need a favour though, I wasn't entirely honest about what happened when Misora and myself were captured by Faust, or at least the faction of Foundation X pretending to be them," explained Sento, "December 25th, Chirstmas Day 2017, I need you to go Cafe Nascita in Tokyo."

Yariha and Hoshii both looked at each other before nodding.

Sento smiled slightly, "Now go."

Turning to the portal, Hoshii spoke, "Ready for this?"

"Is 'no' an option?" asked Yariha, the corner of his mouth twitching under his helmet.

Hoshii laughed, "We passed that point long ago."

"I'm not sure I even remember it," added Yariha, mirth ringing in his voice as he and Hoshii stepped forward, vanishing through the portal.

"Can they do it?" questioned Misora.

Sento smiled, "I know they can."

Suddenly, Guardians flooded into the room, followed by Foundation X's users of the NightRogue and BloodStalk systems.

"Kill them!" ordered NightRogue, "Others have followed Onyx through the portal, we must aid him!"

"Ready to do this one last time?" asked Sento as he drew the Build Driver, attaching it to his waist.

"It isn't me who should be worried," retorted Ryuga, his eyes dancing, a small smirk tugging at his lips, despite his best efforts, drawing his own Driver.

"You keep telling yourself that," grinned Sento, drawing the Rabbit and Tank FullBottles, shaking them.

"Pompous idiot," laughed Ryuga, shaking the Dragon FullBottle, holding out his hand to grab the Cross-Z Dragon out of the air and inerting his FullBottle.

[RABBIT!] [TANK!] [BEST MATCH!]

[WAKE UP!] [CROSS-Z DRAGON!]

Frames appeared around both Sento and Ryuga, their armour halves forming before snapping shut, transforming them into Build and Cross-Z.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!] [RABBITTANK!] [YEAH!]

[WAKE UP BURNING!] [GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!] [YEAH!]

Standing side by side Build and Cross-Z held out their arms, summoning the Drill Crusher and Beat Closer as they watched the Guardians analysed them, waiting to attack.

"We can't let them get to the portal," warned Build, "Misora, stay back."

"No," uttered Misora, joining the other two, a furious look on her face, "I still need to repay them for the years of _hospitality_ they gave me."

"Right," nodded Build, switching his Drill Crusher to gun mode and handing it to Misora, "Here."

"Thanks," uttered Misora, "Time to smash these tin-heads!"

Firing, Misora tore through the front line of the Guardians, Cross-Z rushing in, taking on a group of five robots.

Build sighed, "So much for tactics."

[TAKA!] [SOUJIKI!] [ARE YOU READY?!]

Switching forms and drawing the HawkGatlinger, Build began to hack and slash at any Guardian getting too close to the portal.

* * *

 _Portal Room, November 2017_

"Any second now," muttered Hoshii as she stood facing the portal, her hand grasping the OOO Scanner in her hand, ready for use in a second.

"Don't worry," assured Yariha, summoning two clones with a tap of his Kagematsu-Shin, "We can do this."

The portal suddenly lit up, spitting out Kamen Rider Noir.

"Now!"

[SCANNING CHARGE!]

[MATSUBOKKURI SPARKING!]

Pushing off into the air, Hoshii and Yariha slowed to a halt, suspended in mid air before rocketing towards, gene energy gathering around Hoshii's foot while Yariha spun like a drill, the spectral image of a pinecone forming.

Yelling the two Riders smashed through Noir, sending him crashing to the floor, the briefcase falling from his hand.

Skidding to a halt, Yariha and Hoshii turned to watch Noir as Hansei and Kohei were spat out of the portal.

"Hina? Hase?" breathed Hansei, confused, joining the two other riders, Kohei behind him, "How? Whoa, new armour."

"By the time we got to the portal room you were gone, so we came back earlier than you left to get the upper hand," replied Yariha, "Sento's idea, now, let's end this!"

"Roger!" called Hansei and Hoshii, as the latter summoned the Birth Buster.

Drawing the Python FullBottle, Hansei shook it before flicking it out, a rope of energy appearing from it. Lashing out, Hansei wrapped it around Noir, holding on tightly as the other rider tried to escape.

Strafing sideways, Hoshii peppered Noir with shots before coming to a halt and reloading her Birth Buster, taking aim at Noir, squeezing the trigger.

"Hase, now!" called Hansei, holding out the flat side of the Onyx Breaker, close to the floor.

"Right," nodded Yariha, sprinting towards Hansei, jumping, his left foot landing on the Onyx Breaker as Hansei heaved upwards with all his strength, sending Yariha soaring into the air.

[TATAMI MATSUBOKKURI AU LAIT!]

Rocketing towards Noir, Yariha glowed with gold light as he split into three.

"No, I won't lose," growled Noir, pushing himself straight as the eyes of his suit glowed dark red for a few seconds.

Yariha grunted as he froze in place, the clones either side of him locked in place as well.

"What happened to your honour, Kohei!" yelled Hansei from where he was trapped in place, next to Hoshii, "What happened to my friend?"

"You'll see, oh so soon," sneered Noir, jumping at Yariha, punching him in the chest before executing a Rider Kick in the gap between Hoshii and Hansei, sending them flying, the Python FullBottle falling from his grip.

Kohei watched in horror from where stood, as Hina and Hase landed at side of the portal, blood oozing from cuts and scratches on their face.

With a grunt, Yamato landed next to Kohei, the Onyx Breaker falling from his grip, the Onyx and Ankylo FullBottles dropping out.

Freezing the three riders in place again, Noir retrieved the briefcase and pulled out a dark red Blood FullBottle, storing it on the holster at his waist.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you," gloated Noir, "But since this base has been compromised, there about ten minutes until this place goes boom, enjoy."

Turning to leave, Noir grinned under his helmet.

Kohei's fists tightened, he couldn't stand there and do nothing, this Onyx, was him, his future. He wouldn't let this be his future!

Grabbing the Onyx Breaker and FullBottle from the ground, he shook it as he'd seen Yamato do.

Inserting the Onyx FullBottle into the Breaker, Kohei charged forward as a frame appeared around him, the armour snapping shut as he neared Noir.

Kohei swung the Onyx Breaker, slashing it across Noir's back.

Stumbling forward, Noir dropped the briefcase as he turned to face Kohei, the other three Riders unfreezing, Noir's concentration broken.

Grunting in pain, Hase and Hina used each other as support to get to their feet, Yamato desperately trying to push himself to his feet, his arm giving way, a deep cut oozing blood.

"I'm impressed," spoke Noir, bringing his Transteam Breaker into a swinging stance, "You've got more fire in your belly than I did when I was in your shoes."

"You are not me!" yelled Kohei, swinging his Onyx Breaker, Noir deflecting it.

"Not yet," replied Noir, "But the Psychic FullBottle does recognise you and me as the same person, why do you think you weren't like the others?"

"I won't let you hurt Yamato!" roared Kohei, blue lightning crackling around him as he desperately held his transformation steady, "I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

Swinging away, Kohei altered the trajectory of his swing as Noir moved to block the strike.

Flying back in a burst of sparks, Noir landed on the ground, his suit smoking from a deep, diagonal gash in his chest.

"I understand now, what Yamato said, about running towards danger," spoke Kohei, "I can be better than you, a better Kamen Rider Noir!"

"Touching," spat Onyx as he climbed to his feet, "Honestly, I am impressed that you managed to transform at Hazard Level 2.1, but I must do this."

"Say did you know that just because the portal in 2023 is connected to now, that doesn't mean the portal now isn't connected to any point in time?" questioned Onyx, "In short, if you go through this side of the portal, you'd be lost in time, that is your fate!"

Suddenly lashing out, Onyx struck Kohei across the chest, sending him flying back towards the portal.

"No!" yelled Yamato, struggling to get up, watching in slow motion as Kohei neared the portal.

 _When man and machine become one, when the gem is cracked, save the enemy, save the world._

Kouta's words suddenly ring in Hase's ears, his eyes widened, this was what Kouta had meant, Kohei was both an ally and an enemy.

"Hina, I hope you weren't joking about catching me," commented Hase, soaring into the air, grabbing the Python FullBottle from where it was lying on the floor as he did.

Colliding with Kohei as his suit failed, the two continued to fly towards the portal, reaching out with his hand, Hase wrapped the energy whip from the FullBottle around a pipe as they vanished into the portal.

"Kohei!" called Yamato, his arms giving out from under him again as he pushed himself up.

"Hase!" yelled Hina, charging forward as the pipe was ripped from the ceiling.

Reaching out, Hina's hand wrapped around the end of the PythonWhip, digging into the ground.

"That idiot!" growled Hina, as she hauled herself forward, Hase and Kohei's torsos appearing from the portal.

"I will not allow this," snapped Onyx, freezing Hina, Hase and Yamato in place.

Striding towards Hina with his Transteam Breaker in hand, Noir smiled as he reached her, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Yamato wanted to scream, he couldn't move an inch. He was going to watch Hina die all over again, and this time he didn't get a do over.

 _What is this I feel, Yamato?_

"Sorrow," muttered Yamato, I feel it too."

 _Yamato, I want you to know, it was amazing to aid you in you journey, even if I never got to fight by your side._

"I never asked, ARI," murmured Yamato, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes, "Why did you help me, go against your programming?"

 _You looked like you were sad and angry, I just wanted to make you happy again._

"You did, even if I didn't show it," replied Yamato, smiling slightly, "Thank you."

 _I'm glad, and Yamato, thank you._

"You should never have joined Shiro, he just ruins the lives of everyone around him," stated Onyx, raising his Transteam Breaker.

"I don't regret it at all," retorted Hina, glaring at Onyx.

"Fool," uttered Onyx, letting the axe fall.

Hina shut her eyes, waiting for the end.

"What!"

Opening her eyes, Hina gasped at the sight of Yamato standing in in the path of the axe, the blade clutched in his hands, one eye glowing white, the other yellow.

A yellow aura surrounded him as the cuts and bruises from Onyx's beating and Tachibana's experiments healed themselves.

"Yamato?" whispered Hina.

"I won't let you hurt our friends," stated ARI, her words coming from Yamato's lips.

"ARI?!" exclaimed Hina.

"How?" grunted Onyx.

"Our emotions synchronised," spoke ARI, "We merged."

"Man and Machine as one, a Peerless Match," added Yamato, "The Psychic FullBottle can only freeze humans, I'm not human anymore, at least, not entirely."

"That's impossible!" spat Noir.

"No, it's not," replied Yamato, "You said it yourself, 'a best match forged by emotion'."

"Only with us instead of FullBottles," continued ARI, holding up the Ankylo FullBottle, "All channeled through this."

Letting the Transteam Breaker drop to the floor, Yamato lashed out, kicking Onyx across the room.

Hina and Hase unfroze, the former quickly using her strength to pull Hase and Kohei out of the portal.

"That was awesome!" grinned Hase as pull himself to his feet.

"If you ever do something that stupid again," growled Hina, rounding on Hase, "I won't save you."

"Was she always this scary?" questioned Hase, looking over to Yamato.

"Don't drag us into this," grinned Yamato, holding up his hands, "I'll not getting into her crosshairs."

"Crosshairs? The gun!" exclaimed Hase, searching his jacket for a few seconds before drawing the Transteam Gun, "From Build-guy."

"Have you forgot his name? queried Hina, raising her eyebrow.

"Of course I haven't," defended Hase, "I mean, it's clearly a fake name, Sensha? To? Sento?"

"Let's leaving reading into people's name for another time," spoke Yamato, taking the Transteam Gun, looking from it to the Ankylo FullBottle in his other hand, "I'm starting to think Sento knew what was going to happen."

"I think he did," agreed ARI, using Yamato's hands to examine the Transteam Gun, "Fascinating, it appears he's removed all Foundation X's modifications as well as some of the more, nasty, functions Faust gave it."

"You can't win," spat Onyx as he stomped towards them.

"We already have," spoke Yamato and ARI in sync as they grinned.

Shaking the Anklyo FullBottle, Yamato threw it into the air, catching and inserting it into the slot at the bottom of the changer in one fluid statement.

[ANKYLO!] [PEERLESS MATCH!]

Pulling the trigger, a frame appeared around Yamato a yellow armour half appearing in front and and another behind him.

"HENSHIN!"

[ARE YOU READY?!] [SEIGI NO RAMPAGE!] [AN-AN-ANKYLO!] [FIRE!]

The yellow halves snapped shut around Yamato, encasing him. On his helmet both eyes were white versions of the Ankylo eyes.

The suit resembled the Ankylo half reflected over both sides of the suit, white spikes on the shoulders and gauntlets. The armlet on Hansei's right arm had a ring of gold around one half, while the leg armour on his left leg had a gold spikes. His right gauntlet had a extra piece of armour, resembling a golden spike.

A new armour piece appeared from behind Hansei, an ankylosaurus with white horns protruding from all over its body. Soaring towards Hansei, the legs folded up as it attached itself to his back.

The head folded inwards, creating a gold coloured face of an ankylosaurus that attached itself to the front of Hansei's helmet, sighting obscuring the lenses. The two largest horns curved around Hansei, solidify into armor reaching most of the way down his torso, the next largest horns forming shoulder pieces.

Steam billowed from the seam of the suit, nearly entirely shrouding him from sight as he stalked forwards, the white eyes glowing.

Onyx growled before charging at Hansei, who continued to stroll towards, not even flinching as Onyx's fist impacted with him.

"Nice try," commented Hansei, pushing Onyx back before punching with his right fist, sending his opponent flying back.

"I won't fail now," growled Onyx as he pushed himself to his feet, drawing a dark red FullBottle, shaking it, "Not when my revenge is at hand!"

Shaking the red FullBottle, Onyx went to remove the Psychic FullBottle when red lightning crackled around his body, the eyes of his suit turning red.

"Is that it?" questioned Hansei, watching in horror, "The one they killed my sister to create."

"Yes, the Blood FullBottle, a truly disgusting abomination, raw power at any cost," replied ARI.

"We have to stop him," stated Hansei, before charging at Onyx.

Snarling like an animal, Onyx dodged and ducked, avoid all of Hansei's kicks and punches.

"We're too slow," spoke Hansei, desperately trying to match Onyx's enhanced speed.

"Let me try something," offered ARI before the eyes of the suit turned yellow.

Raising the Transteam Gun, ARI twisted the Ankylo FullBottle, rotating a 180 degrees before pulling the trigger again.

[CAST OFF!]

The horns making up the armour over Hansei's chest retreated, folding up on his back.

"It's my turn now," called ARI launching a punch in Onyx's direction, a yellow hologram of a spike striking him in the chest before he could dodge.

Holding the two gauntlets together, ARI gathered another energy attack, this one larger than the last, spearing it at Onyx.

"Pathetic," murmured Onyx a he regained his balance, suit smoking, "You're still holding back!"

"You're right," sighed Hansei, resuming control, eyes switching to white, the Ankylo armour returning as he summoned the FullBottle Brace.

"You are a liar, a cheat, a murderer and tyrant, but you're still my friend, that's why I have to do this. You're my friend, and this is what friends do!"

* * *

 ** _Portal Room, 2023_**

Dodging a swing from BloodStalk, Build lashed out with a kick, knocking them back, away from the portal.

Looking across the room, Build watched as Cross-Z continued to wail on NightRogue. It was even more apparent that whoever was using it didn't know what they were doing, more so than even Utsumi.

Feeling a tug on his belt, Build looked down to see his Rabbit and Tank FullBottles glowing.

"What's going on?" yelled Cross-Z, digging into the ground as the Driver on his waist was pulling him towards the portal.

"Let it," spoke Build, popping the FullBottles out of his Build Driver, watching as they shot through the portal, "This needs to happen."

"I can't," grunted Cross-Z, "This bottle is how Kasumi's spirit lives on!"

"This timeline is being unwritten, whatever created it has been changed," urged Sento, drawing the Taka, Gorilla and Soujiki FullBottles, letting them zoom into the portal, "If you hold onto it, it will cease to exist as well."

Cross-Z sighed, looking down at his Driver, before deactivating it, the pull of the FullBottle ripping it from the Cross-Z Dragon as well, "Goodbye, Kasumi."

Turning to face out from the portal, Sento watched as the Guardian turned black and white before fading out of existence.

"No!" roared NightRogue, they clung onto BloodStalk, monochrome creeping up their bodies until it engulfed them, wiping them from reality.

Moving fowards, Ryuga slung a limping Misora's arm over his shoulder, joining Sento at the portal, with their backs to it.

"I just hope that it's better this next time," spoke Misora, before fading away.

"I should have said this earlier," stated Ryuga, looking down as his hand began to fade out of existence, "Thank you for trusting me."

With that, Sento was alone, the walls around him beginning to turn black and white as well.

"Guess I won't be need this anymore," uttered Sento, holding up the Build Driver, "But I think someone who does."

Turning to face the portal, Sento drew the Scorpion FullBottle, still wrapped in cloth, and a letter.

"Good luck, Hansei," spoke Sento, the items getting sucked into the portal as he vanished from existence.

* * *

 ** _November 2017_**

Securing the FullBottle Brace to his arm, Hansei pulled his fist back as six FullBottles shot out of the portal and slotting into the brace.

[RABBIT!] [TANK!] [GORILLA!] [TAKA!] [SOUJIKI!] [DRAGON!] [VOLTECH FUSION!]

"We'll change your fate with our hands!" announced Yamato and ARI in sync, as the eyes of the suit turned gold.

Charging at Onyx, Hansei swung with all his might, the holograms of a six FullBottles surrounding him, a rainbow of energy flowing down his arm as he smashed into through Onyx.

Landing on the other side of Onyx, Hansei turned to watch the Transteam Breaker drop to the ground in front him, badly damaged. Soaring through the air, Onyx's Psychic FullBottle shattered before it hit the ground.

Falling to the ground, Onyx scrabbled madly, grabbing the Blood FullBottle, his eyes pulsing red.

"Let me help you, Kohei," urged Hansei.

"It's too late, you saved my younger self," sneered Onyx, "Without the Psychic FullBottle, time will catch up with me, you bastard."

"You'll be unwritten," stated Hansei, pulling the Ankylo FullBottle from his Transteam Gun.

Onyx suddenly gave a mad laugh, "You won, and yet you still lost."

"What do you mean?" questioned Yamato, as his suit vanished.

"This may be their world," grunted Onyx, pointing at Hase and Hina, "But it's not yours, not ours."

"It is, my scans indicate a 94.7% similarity in the energy readings," rebuked ARI, sounding insulted, as Hina, Has and Kohei joined them, "The chances of two worlds have such similar energy profiles is so astronomical small they can't even be calculated."

"That's where you're wrong," smirked Onyx, his eyes continuing to burn, "When Pandora's Box activated in this world it need a power supply to create the Skywall, after all, energy can't be created or destroyed, so it cannibalised our world, ripped it apart to use for power."

Yamato stood, frozen in shock as Onyx continued to speak, "No one will recognise you in the this world, the you of this world died when that bus hit him!"

"No, you're lying," denied Yamato, stepped backwards.

"What's the point of lying now, if you managed to defeat me, you've got a chance to take down Foundation X," spat Onyx, "I hated them most of all, I was just waiting my time for my revenge on them!"

"Kohei," uttered Yamato, stepping forwards.

"Stop, you can do it, you were always an annoyingly persistent bastard," grunted Onyx, still clutching on to the Blood FullBottle, "I won't let them have this."

With that, Onyx collapsed backwards, his body fading from existence, along with the Blood FullBottle.

Yamato collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face, "I'll destroy them, I'll destroy Foundation X."

* * *

 **End of Arc 1**

 **Arc 2 - Aurum Rising**

 **Coming December 26th**


	14. True Origins: Part 1

**Hansei Gaiden: True Origins**

 **Part 1 - First Meetings**

* * *

 _Nascita Cafe, May 2017_

"Tired," mumbled Misora as she slumped forwards out of the Purification Chamber, asleep before she fell into Soichi's arms.

Sento sighed and grabbed the Kaizoku from the modified microwave set into the Chamber, "Another organic FullBottle."

Placing it on his workstation, next to the Rabbit, Tank and Lion FullBottles, Sento sat down, his head level with them.

Carefully laying Misora on the bed, Soichi joined Sento, leaning down next to his head, "Aren't you going to give it a try?"

"I'll do it later," sighed Sento, before brightening up, "But I do have something to show you."

Standing, Sento walked over to a strangely shaped object covered in a thick cloth. Gripping it, Sento yanked his arm back, to reveal a purple motorcycle.

"I call it the Machine Reflector," spoke Sento, hopping on and twisting the handles.

"Why is it purple?" questioned Soichi, frowning.

"Red and blue mixed, like RabbitTank," replied Sento, leaning on the handlebars, "It needs an inorganic FullBottle to power it, I'd have to entirely rebuild it to adapt it to run on an organic FullBottle."

A beeping sounded, both Sento and Soichi rushing over to its source, a laptop resting on a workstation.

"What is it?" questioned Sento, as Soichi sat down and started typing away.

"I'm not quite sure," murmured Soichi, looking puzzled.

"A Smash?" offered Sento.

"Perhaps, the readings are all over the place," answered Soichi, before turning the screen to face Sento, "These are its coordinates."

"Got it," replied Sento grabbing his FullBottles and his coat and racing up the stairs.

* * *

Feet pounding the concrete, Sento raced down the street, rounding the the corner and entered the warehouse the coordinates led to.

"I really need to finish that bike," huffed Sento, resting on his knees as he caught his breath.

A sudden noise grabbed Sento's attention, looking up as a swirling blue portal opened in front of him.

"Fascinating," grinned Sento, starting to step forward in order to examine the portal when a figure in yellow armour was spat out of it, skidding to a halt in a shower of sparks on his back, a plastic case landing next to him.

Sento watched warily as the portal snapped shut, the man in the yellow armour dragging himself to his feet, a Transteam Gun one hand.

"That gun," uttered Sento, flashes of when he was experimented on surging through his mind, "That's the same one the bat man had."

"H-Help," grunted the man, reaching forwards, "Sento."

Resolving himself, Sento drew his Rabbit and Tank FullBottles, shaking them, preparing to fight. Continuing to limp towards Sento, the man in the yellow suit gave a grunt and collapsed forwards, his suit vanishing.

Lowering his FullBottles, Sento groaned, "Talk about unsatisfying."

Walking over to the man, Sento crouched down, lifting the Transteam Gun from his grip, examining the FullBottle inserted into it.

"Really, another organic?" moaned Sento, going to pocket the FullBottle.

"Please put me back, Sento," spoke the FullBottle, flashing in time with the words.

Sento yelled and fell back, dropping the FullBottle, "What are you?"

"So we haven't met yet?" mused the FullBottle, "I'm ARI, an AI created by Foundation X to aid an X-Rider, luckily we don't really take to being told what to do, we escaped."

"We?" questioned Sento, leaning forwards.

"Yamato and I," answered ARI, as Sento picked her up again.

"Who's Foundation X?" added Sento, walking over to the briefcase that had come out of the portal as well.

"An organisation dedicated to amassing power, no matter who they hurt or kill," explained ARI, "Yamato's father is a member, he was the one to ordered for Yamato to be converted into an X-Rider."

"Woah," gasped Sento as he opened the case, revealing eighteen FullBottles, two empty slots in the center, "What are they?"

"These are Yamato's FullBottles, at least the time-displaced versions from before we even got them originally, well, some of them are" explained ARI, "We took them from a Foundation X Rider about four weeks ago."

"More FullBottles? How is this possible?" pondered Sento, "Misora is the only one capable of creating FullBottles."

"These were made in the future, 2023 to be exact," replied ARI, "Foundation X forced Misora to make them I assume, using artifically-reproduced Nebula Gas."

"2023, six years?" wondered Sento, "So Foundation X made these?"

"And they would like them back," drawled a voice, causing Sento to wheel around, finding a man in a black suit with a red scorpion on the chest, "So hand them over!"

"You're Foundation X, then I won't let you have them," called Sento, placing ARI down, drawing and shaking his FullBottles, "Science should not be perverted by mad men!"

[RABBIT!] [TANK!] [BEST MATCH!]

Inserting the FullBottles into the Build Driver and turning the crank, Sento crossed his arms over his chest.

"HENSHIN!"

[ARE YOU READY?!] [RABBITTANK!] [HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!] [YEAH!]

Transforming into RabbitTank Form, Build summoned his Drill Crusher and charged at BurnSting. Swinging his weapon, Build stumbled backwards as BurnSting blocked the blow.

"You'll have to try harder than that!" groused BurnSting, kicking Build in the chest.

Stumbling back, Build's foot nudged the case of FullBottles, some of them falling out.

"Let's try one of these out," spoke Build, grabbing a purple FullBottle, before drawing Kaizoku from his holder.

[KAIZOKU!] [CRYSTAL!]

"Shame," sighed Build, before turning the crank.

[ARE YOU READY?!]

Transforming in a flash of light, Build examined his suit, his right side light blue with the bow of a ship as the pauldron, a black and blue cape hanging from it.

The left side of his suit was purple and almost featureless by comparison. The left eye of the suit was light blue and themed after a skull and crossbones. Meanwhile, the other was simple purple lense, before it morphed into the same shape as the other eye.

"Fascinating," mused Build, before suddenly diving to one side as BurnSting launched a fireball at him.

"Idiot," grunted BurnSting, launching another fireball after gathering it in his palm.

"This is amazing," awed Build at all data flashing through his right lense, analysing BurnSting's every move.

Glancing down at his left hand, Build watched as a fireball gathered in his palm, exactly as BurnSting had done. Looking up, Build pulled his arm back, launching the fireball at BurnSting, surprising him.

Shifting as much as he could, BurnSting was caught in the shoulder and pushed backwards, his feet digging into his ground.

"Not bad," snorted BurnSting, diving forwards and rolling, stopping next to the open case of the FullBottles, "I'll be taking these, as well as this."

Grabbing the case and the FullBottle containing ARI, BurnSting tossed another fireball as Build went to rush at him.

"Let go of me!" demanded ARI.

"Tell your new friend to bring the Blood FullBottle to where his greatest shame lives," sneered BurnSting, holdin up, "That's if he wants to see his other half again, tomorrow morning."

Standing, BurnSting turned around, vanishing in a cloud of black smoke.

"This is not how I was expecting today to go," sighed Build, pulling the FullBottles from his belt, looking down at the Crystal FullBottle.

Stepping out from behind a pillar, BloodStalk watched as Sento walked over to Yamato's unconscious form.

* * *

 _Yamato looked up at the room around him, watching as smoke filled the portal room, both Hase and Hina yelling for him to move, he could barely hear them over the ringing in his ears._

 _Snapping out of his haze, Yamato studied his surroundings, the building was collapsing, a section of the ceiling had come down, blocking off their exit._

" _The portal!" called Hina over the roaring sound of the fire as Kohei helped Yamato to his feet._

" _We'll be lost in time and space all over again!" argued Hase, the case Onyx had been carrying in his grip._

" _Better that than dead," replied Hina._

 _Hase sighed, "I'm in."_

" _Me too," added Kohei, "Yamato?"_

" _Anything that gets me closer to destroying Foundation X," spoke Yamato soullessly._

" _If we holding onto each other we should be fine," explained ARI, through Yamato's mouth._

" _Let's go!" exclaimed Hina as they all set of form the portal, dodging a section of collapsed ceiling._

" _What's this?" questioned Hase, stopping and setting the case down, before picking up a Build Driver sat in front of the portal, obviously having come out of it._

" _Sento's," uttered Yamato, "He must have tossed it through with the FullBottles."_

" _There's more," added Hase, grabbing a letter and a bundle of cloth, "It's for you."_

 _A suddenly pulse of red light shot out of the portal, hitting Hase in the back, knocking him to the ground, the Driver, cloth and letter falling from his hands._

 _The portal rippled as a figure stepped through, a woman with dark hair, a laser blaster in one hand._

" _Who the hell are you?" demanded Hina._

" _Elena, Dr Tachibana's assistant," answered the woman, her eyes burning like fire, turning to Yamato, "You killed him! I watched you slaughter him in cold blood on my monitor, unable to stop you."_

" _He was a monster," growled Yamato, not even trying to rein his temper in, "He killed my sister, he deserved far worse than what I did to him."_

" _I will avenge him," spat Elena, grabbing the Build Driver and slamming it on her waist, "I will destroy you, Yamato Takahashi."_

* * *

 _Cafe Nascita_

Yamato bolted awake, eyes wide, calming once he saw his surroundings looked safe, a strange empty feeling inside of him puzzling him.

Searching around him, Yamato could see he was in some sort of laboratory, circuit boards and sheets of paper littering almost every surface.

Nearby, Sento was hunched over a strange panel set into the wall, sliding FullBottles in and out of it, swapping them with the one in his Driver, cheering every time he identified a Best Match, purely by trial and error.

Going to move, Yamato found he couldn't.

"What," murmured Yamato, glancing down to see himself sat against a metal leg of a table, his arms chained behind it.

"I couldn't just let you roam free down here," spoke Sento as he stopped what he was doing, dropping a chair in front of Yamato, back towards him.

"You can trust me, I'm an ally," replied Yamato, as Sento slumped into the chair, sitting the wrong way.

"I'll decide that for myself," stated Sento, before smiling for a few seconds, "So, how did you get that gun?"

Turning his head, Yamato could see his Transteam Gun resting on a table, "You gave it to me."

"No I didn't."

"Not yet, you will, in the future," quantified Yamato, "2023, to be exact."

"So that AI was telling the truth," murmured Sento, "Fascinating, six years, the implications."

"ARI? You there?" questioned Yamato as Sento rattled on, talking to himself, "ARI?"

"That Foundation X guy took her," explained Sento, looking up from his ramblings, "Said you had to bring the Blood FullBottle to 'the place of your greatest shame' or something like that."

"What?"

"Yeah, the scorpion guy gave you until tomorrow morning," replied Sento, pausing, "Although you have been unconscious all night."

"BurnSting, I need to go," growled Yamato, pulling at the handcuffs with all his might.

"Don't bother, I reinforced them," drawled Sento with a grin, "I saw your cybernetics, couldn't risk you attacking me."

"Let me go," stated Yamato.

"Answer my questions and I'll consider it," answered Sento, "What's your name?"

Yamato sighed, "It's Yamato Takahashi."

"Looking it up," spoke a voice.

Twisting his head, Yamato watched a desk with a laptop on it, Soichi sat behind it, typing away.

"Born April 3rd 1971, that would make you 46," commented Soichi.

"Let me guess," uttered Sento, "Time travel."

"Yeah," grunted Yamato, "I'm 22."

"It also says you were killed in a traffic incident in 1977," added Soichi.

"I'm from another world, one where I survived," answered Yamato.

"Your arm and leg?" queried Sento.

"The accident," replied Yamato, "Foundation X, the people BurnSting works for, they kidnapped me and modified me, _fixed_ me, all led by my father."

"So a family reunion is out of the question?" asked Sento.

"Definitely."

"So, this," spoke Sento, holding up a somewhat charred letter.

"A letter from your future self, to me," informed Yamato, "I opened it a while ago, couldn't even read it."

"That's because it was in code," replied Sento, smiling, "One I developed, just in case something like this ever happened, the letter was actually to me, told me all about you, the Transteam Gun, your FullBottles."

"You designed a code for the possibility of a letter from your future self?" questioned Yamato, in disbelief.

"I like to be prepared," replied Sento.

"He got a letter he couldn't understand a few months ago, he was convinced it was a message from the future, so he created that encryption," spoke Misora from an armchair behind Yamato as she filed her nails, "Turned out to be really badly translated from English, it was an advertisement for male pen-"

"Wait, you knew all about me and you still locked me up and interrogated me?" exclaimed Yamato suddenly.

"Ah, w-well," stuttered Sento, his cheeks flushed from Misora's comment, "I trust my future self, he's had seven years longer to think about this than me, but you, I had to see if you told the same story, to see if I could trust you."

"Will you let me go then now?" queried Yamato.

Sento nodded, standing and moving behind Yamato, within a few seconds he felt his hands come free.

Pushing himself to his feet, Yamato picked up the Transteam Gun, looking down at it for a few seconds before stowing it in his jacket.

"I can only use the Ankylo FullBottle in the Gun, I tried using Crystal a while back, just to try, didn't work," spoke Yamato, "Hurt, though."

"I've prepared the Alpha Driver for you, the version before you get it," spoke Sento, guiding Yamato over to a workbench, he could see a half-built Driver as well as his own destroyed Driver.

"Can mine be fixed?" questioned Yamato, taking the Alpha Driver from Sento as he offered it to him, the Crystal and Python FullBottles already loaded into it.

"You did a number on it, maybe, I'm not really sure," answered Sento, "Although, it was outdated tech, my first attempt, the only reason I didn't break it down for parts like the others was sentimentality."

"I see," uttered Yamato, before striding over the panel on the wall, pulling his other six FullBottles from it, just Onyx and Ankylo missing.

"Those I took from your jacket, the other four fell out the case before that BurnSting guy took them," explained Sento as Yamato, examined them, he never really bothered looking in the case, "It's strange though, they wouldn't work with the panel but they would in my Driver."

One was gold with a lightning bolt on it, other sky blue with the picture of a wing imprinted onto it. The other two were the younger versions of Turbo and Shell.

"ARI said that my FullBottles were created using artificial Nebula Gas," replied Yamato.

"Huh, so that's why they're not compatible with the panel, oh, by the way, I got bored waiting for you to wake up, so I built a weapon for the first Best Match I found, Thunder and Eagle," informed Sento, picking up a spear from a workbench.

It had a long blue handle with a gold guard shaped like an eagle, doubling as an axe blade. On top was a silver lightning bolt as a blade, a simple spear blade on the other end.

"I call it, the Eagle Bolter," announced Sento, giving it a few experimental swings.

"It's pretty sweet," admitted Yamato, "But we need to focus, I need to save ARI."

"About that, I couldn't find any Blood FullBottle on you," spoke Sento, "Where are you hiding it?"

"I don't have it," answered Yamato, taking the remaining FullBottles from the panel, tossing the other versions of Shell and Turbo to Sento, "You can use these."

"I can test them out with this," grinned Sento, holding up the other Crystal FullBottle he'd taken from the case, "Wait, what do you mean you don't have the Blood FullBottle?"

"Exactly that," sighed Yamato, "It's was erased out of existence by Onyx, he made sure to take it with him when the timeline erased him, a final bit of revenge on Foundation X."

"But they still think you have it?" questioned Sento.

"They think I'm lying and I'm hiding it from them," explained Yamato, "BurnSting has been chasing me for the last three weeks."

"How are we going to get him off your back?"

"The only way, Masato understands," spoke Yamato, "Beating the crap out of him."

"Easier said than done," replied Sento, "I could barely scratch the guy."

"He want to taunt me with the Anklyo FullBottle, since it contains ARI, something is blocking our link," explained Yamato, "If we get her back I can use my Peerless form, that'll turn the tide."

"Sounds like a plan, ready to go?" questioned Sento.

"I'm always ready to turn BurnSting into a bloody pulp," retorted Yamato, "One step closer to destroying Foundation X."

* * *

 ** _Foundation X Headquarters_**

"Dr. Tachibana," announced Osamu as he entered the doctor's lab, "It's time to prep the candidates for Project Hansei."

Tachibana nodded, "I can have Elena and Masato prepped for Nebula Gas exposure within the hour."

"I've decided to add a third candidate," continued Osamu, "I'm sending a team to retrieve him."

"Who is the this third candidate?" questioned Tachibana.

"My son, a team is pulling him from the remnant of the other dimension the Pandora Box ripped apart, two weeks before he commits suicide, perhaps he can finally be of use to me," informed Osamu, "I'll be going with them."

"Are you sure that is wise," questioned Tachibana, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't question me, he will just be a vessel for Foundation X's desires," snapped Osamu, turning around and leaving the room.

As soon as the door shut, Tachibana suddenly cried out, clutching his head as he dropped to his knees. Rocking backwards and forwards as blood leaked from his ears, his mouth opening to release a cloud of Nebula Gas.

Going limp, Tachibana's eyes snapped open, his eyes turning gold.

"This is going to be fun," uttered Tachibana as he climbed to his feet, "I really will enjoy this."

* * *

 _1993, Yamato's World_

Osamu paused outside the door, two soldiers dressed as orderlies behind him.

If he did this, he would be erasing the one thing Yamato did to make his proud, putting himself out of everyone's misery. Taking a deep breath, Osamu pushed the door open.

"Still as pathetic as ever," sneered Osamu, Yamato was asleep in his wheelchair.

"Morning, Father," replied Yamato, slowly waking up.

"It's two in the afternoon, Yamato," spoke Osamu, his voice cold.

"How's mother? And Touka?" questioned Yamato.

"Your sister is doing well, as for your mother, she hasn't improved still the last time you asked," retorted Osamu, he hated this pathetic waste of a human, "Probably the shame of having a disgrace of a son like you."

"If you've just come here to insult me, don't come," snapped Yamato.

"I wouldn't talk to me like that," taunted Osamu, walking around Yamato, "I'm the one who pays for you to live his this place, sleeping the day away."

"You shoved me in here when you couldn't hide away at home anymore," hissed Yamato, "You were so ashamed of having a child who was disabled and so afraid that it would hurt your career that you imprisoned me here."

"And you'll never escape," spoke Osamu, "That is your fate."

"I will get out, I will protect Touka from you," stated Yamato, his face contorting as he managed to raise his damaged left arm, then his prosthetic arm, "I will change my fate with these hands."

"I'd hoped I wouldn't have to play my hand so soon, but you've become too much of a risk, your spirit didn't break how I'd hoped it to," lied Osamu, what he was about to do was what he'd come here to do.

Stepping forward, Osamu knocked twice on the door, moving back again as the two soldiers dressed as orderlies entered Yamato's room.

"It looks like you will be getting your wish to get out of here, just not how you were expecting," informed Osamu in a smug tone, pulling off his glasses and beginning to polish them.

"You bastard," spat Yamato as the orderlies lifted him out his chair, his Walkman falling to the floor, the plastic cover on the front cracking.

"Take comfort that your sacrifice will help science," replied Osamu, "After all, progress demands sacrifice."

Lashing out with his good leg, Yamato struggled to get free, his prosthetic right arm coming loose, joining his Walkman on the floor.

"Sayonara, Yamato," murmured Osamu, watching as his son was dragged away, "This is just the start of your journey."

"Sir, should we deactivate the device?" questioned one of the soldiers.

"After we leave, yes," replied Osamu, straightening his collar, "Without Dr. Tachibana's creation, this last pocket of this world will be consumed, once and for all."

Turning to face the door, Osamu allowed a small smile to tug at the corners of his mouth, "Good riddance."


End file.
